Blending in the Background
by Reachingthestaars
Summary: Nico di Angelo was just trying to get through his high school life, despite his abusive father. But, one day he is partnered with a certain Percy Jackson, and shit goes down. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters!**

_Hey! This is my first Percy Jackson story, so I hope everyone is in character. Thanks for reading!_

_Percy/Nico_

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Nico tiptoed down the dusty stairs and grabbed his backpack from the floor. He eased the front door open and slipped out as quietly as possible. Once he was away from the house and halfway down the road, he let out a sigh of relief.

He squinted in the morning sun and ran a hand through his long, black hair. He halfheartedly hoped it looked okay, but he honestly didn't care that much. His threadbare t-shirt, ripped jeans, and scuffed up converse would have contrasted with neat hair anyway.

The walk to his high school took only ten minutes. Nico actually enjoyed the walk. The cool air and rare quiet solitude helped him get his thoughts together. The serene morning evaporated when he reached the school. He weaved through students talking and shoving each other on the school steps and went in. He passed the football jocks with no trouble. He was one of the 'under the radar' kids, not popular or unpopular, just kind of there.

He walked down a couple halls until he came across a few teens in their usual spot. They waved at him, and Nico gave them a nod of acknowledgement before he joined their group. Leo Valdez said something, causing the others to laugh.

Nico was zoned out. He wasn't all too close to these people. Not only was it hard to be close to people when you hide things from them, but he also didn't try very hard to get to know them. Nico wasn't exactly social, but he hung out with these people so he wasn't targeted as a loner. Don't get him wrong, they were good people, but Nico didn't have the energy or desire to get close to them. The warning bell rang, causing the group to scatter. Nico turned and began walking toward his first period class, Leo walking with him.

"You okay, man? You've been extra quiet today," Leo asked in an uncharacteristically serious voice. Leo was Nico's longest friend. They had been hanging out for almost five years, and he by far knew Nico the best out of anyone. He knew when something was off most days with his friend, but never pushed for answers. Nico appricaiated this. He nodded.

"Yeah, just tired," he said.

Leo gave a crooked smile. "Really? Never heard that one," he teased. He went to punch Nico in the arm, but the slightly shorter teen was too fast for him, dodging easily.

"Why are you so fast?" Leo whined. "Anyway, see you later!" The curly haired teen turned down the hallway to his own class. Nico walked into his classroom and slunk to the back of the room. None of the students even turned. People always said he could almost become one with the shadows.

The final bell rang and the teacher called for quiet, causing the murmurings of the class to cease. When the lesson began, Nico tuned the teacher out. He gazed out the window and thought about anything from 'Did I do my calc homework?' to 'Why are the clouds lower in the sky today?'.

The class was almost over, when the words 'partner project' broke Nico out of his thoughts. His eyes widened and his head snapped towards the teacher for the first time in forty minutes. He knew this day wasn't going to be that easy.

"I'm going to assign the partners, so stop eying your friend like an idiot," the teacher said. This gained a few glares from the class. The teacher ignored them, and began spouting names.

'Since when were these people in my class?' Nico thought as he listened to the list. He sat on the edge of his seat, hoping the person he got assigned to wasn't too insufferable.

"Nico di Angelo," the teacher said in his monotone, "is with Percy Jackson." Nico looked around the room, not knowing who that was. He saw another person looking around, confused, and guessed that must be him. The teen had black hair like Nico's, but it was shorter and more tame. He was broad and had an athlete's strong build, the opposite of Nico's small, lean frame.

'Oh, I remember him now,' Nico thought. He had seen him once at a school event. Percy was the captain of the school's swim team. His sea colored eyes locked with Nico's ebony ones. He offered a small smile. Nico just looked back out the window.

'Just great,' he thought glumly. Ten minutes later, the bell finally rang. Nico quickly slipped out of the classroom. Most wouldn't even spot him, but Percy was obviously looking for him.

"Nico!" the Italian heard being called down the hall, but he was already turning down a different hallway. Nico knew he was going to have to talk to Percy, but didn't feel like dealing with it right now. Thankfully, first was the only period Nico had with him, allowing to him effectively ignore the swim captain.

•*•

The last bell of the day finally rang, and Nico speed walked out of the school, knowing it was crucial to get home fast. He was about leave the campus when he heard running footsteps and a breathless, "Nico!" being called out to him. The teen cringed.

'So close,' he thought. Nevertheless, he stopped walking, taking pity on the one chasing him, who was obviously Percy. Nico turned around, his suspicions being confirmed at the sight of a heavily breathing Percy approaching him.

"Damn, you're hard to catch," Percy panted out. After a minute, he said, "I want to talk about the project." Nico rolled his eyes and thought 'Obviously'. He didn't even know what the project was on. Something about science?

"So, what Greek Gods do you want to do?" Guess not science.

Nico sighed. "Can we talk about this tomorrow before class? I have somewhere to be," he said, antsy.

"Sure," Percy said good naturedly, even though he had practically ran half the school to catch Nico. Without a word, the Italian turned and went down the street, something rushed about the way he walked. Percy shrugged and went back to find Grover, his best friend.

'I hope that little sidetrack didn't take too long,' Nico thought worriedly as he picked up his pace.

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_If you guys like this I'll continue! Tell me in the reviews! (:_


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you guys so much for the wonderful feedback! I can't even explain how happy it makes me! thanks for reading(:

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_'I hope that little sidetrack didn't take too long,' Nico thought worriedly as he picked up his pace._

Nico walked silently into his house, clicking the door shut behind him as gently as possible. Suddenly, a booming voice came from over his shoulder, almost making him jump out of his skin.

"You're late today," it stated.

"Sorry," Nico muttered, keeping his head down.

"Sorry, what?" the deep voice persisted.

"Sorry, sir," Nico corrected, trying not to sound snide. He raised his eyes and looked at his foster father. The man sure was intimidating. Towering over six feet tall, his wide frame blocked the whole entryway. Next to him, Nico, barely pushing 5'6", could be mistaken for a child.

"You better be," he snarled. "Now start dinner." The man moved to the side to allow Nico to squeeze down the hall. As the teen passed, the man gave him a hard smack upside the head. Nico flinched and paused for a moment, but continued to the kitchen.

The man chuckled and walked down the hallway, presumably to the living room. Once out of eyesight, Nico scowled and rubbed the back of his head. He entered the grimy kitchen and scrunched up his nose at the stench.

'Maybe Hades' sense of smell doesn't work,' he thought bitterly as he looked through the cabinets. Nico's foster father insisted he called him Hades. Nico found this more than slightly unnerving. He didn't have the slightest inkling of the man's real name.

Nico found the cabinets were almost completely empty. 'How does Hades expect me to cook with nothing?' he silently fumed. After ten minutes and three reexaminations of the cabinets, Nico finally found a lone can of soup in a dark corner.

He mentally rejoiced this small victory as he turned on the stovetop and got out a pot to cook the soup in. He sat at the table as he waited for the meal to heat up. Thankfully, it cooked fast, so Hades didn't complain. After less than ten minutes, Nico took the steaming pot off of the cooktop and turned the burner off. He poured the soup into a bowl and placed it on the table. Nico walked out of the kitchen and stood in front of the stairs.

"Your food is ready sir," the teen yelled towards the living room. Hades came down the hall and looked at Nico. "It's in the kitchen," the short teen said, having to crane his neck up to look the man in the eyes. Hades glared at him.

"Why are you hollering in my house like an animal?"

Nico felt like pointing out that Hades himself was shouting at the moment, and therefore being completely hypocritical, but the man walked towards him quickly.

'Left bicep tensing. Finger on left hand twitching slightly. Hit coming high and left,' his brain quickly deducted. Using the reflexes Leo had complained about mere hours before, Nico dodged a meaty fist flying towards his head. A small smile of triumph pulled at his lips, but it was short lived.

Hades was even angrier now. Before he could react, Hades sent a hard punch to Nico's chest, causing his back to fly against the stairs behind him with a loud thud. Nico gasped for the air that had been knocked out his lungs.

Hades smiled a venomous grin. "Maybe one day you'll learn not to be smart with me, boy," he spat, and then went into the kitchen. Nico laid on the stairs for a minute or two, still regaining his breath, before slowly pushing himself up.

He sighed, partially in anger and partially in defeat. Hades was just too big of an opponent to take on. He climbed the stairs slowly, realizing with a grimace how sore his back was going to be. Nico reached his room and shut the door slowly, no matter how much he wanted to slam it. He was indignant, not an idiot. He sat down on his bed next to his backpack.

Nico's room had the bare minimum. The floors were scratched up hardwood and the walls were plain black, as were the worn bed sheets. The only other piece of furniture in the room, other then the bed, was a rickety old dresser. The sun was beginning to set outside his window. Nico decided to catch up on his school work, since failing class definitely would not help anything.

By the time he finished his homework, along with many sidetracks in between actually doing the work, it was completely dark out. Luckily, Hades must have decided Nico wasn't worth messing with further that night. He rubbed his tired eyes and listened. The house was silent, except for the faint mumblings of a TV on downstairs. Nico decided to take a chance.

He used his sneaking skills to creep down the stairs and grab a little food from the kitchen. He glanced at the microwave's time. It proclaimed that it was almost one in the morning. Nico ate quickly and hurried back to his room. He changed into pajamas and climbed into bed, eyelids drooping. Now somewhat full and about as happy as he thought he could get, Nico fell into a dreamless sleep.

Just another ordinary day.

•*•

Nico pried his eyes open at the sound of the alarm. He reached over and blindly slapped around until he hit the snooze button on his clock. He dragged himself out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. He turned the shower on as cold as it could go, hoping that it would be good for his bruised chest and back. The frigid water helped to wake up his cloudy mind.

He showered quickly and went back to his room to change. He threw on an old v-neck and black jeans, slipping on his usual converse. Nico grabbed his bag and gently swung it onto his back. He crept down the stairs and glanced into the living room. Hades was asleep in front of the TV. He breathed a sigh of relief and slipped out of the house.

The wind was relentless today, causing Nico's damp hair to fly around his head. The teen scowled and shoved the black mess out of his eyes. He picked up his pace and got to the school quicker than usual, eager to be out of the gusts.

Nico entered the building and tried to flatten his hair down, to no avail. He briefly deliberated if he should meet the group or not, and decided against it. Trying to rub the sleepiness from his eyes, he walked to his homeroom instead. There were a few people in the room already, and Nico slid to his usual seat in the back.

As he was walking over, a loud "Nico!" was shouted from barely inches away, causing him to lose his footing and almost trip. He regained his balance and turned around slowly, already knowing who he was going to see.

"Be careful, don't fall!" Percy warned, apparently not picking up on the others annoyance. Nico rolled his eyes and continued to his seat.

Percy followed him. "Wanna talk about the project now?" he asked. Nico sighed. He sat down in his seat and winced slightly as his sore back touched the back of the chair.

Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. What's this project about, anyway?"

"We have to make a presentation about the five Greek gods we chose," he explained. "I want to do Hermes and Poseidon. The other three options are Ares, Apollo, and Hades."

Nico wrinkled his nose in disgust at the mention of the last name. "I refuse to do Hades."

Percy shrugged. "I'll do him then." The swim captains face suddenly lit up. "Hey, wanna come over today to work on it?"

Nico was about to refuse, when he stopped. He thought of why he was so sore and felt spite rushing through him. That bastard could cook for himself. A sly grin grew on Nico's face.

"Where should I meet you?"

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Hope this lives up to everyone's execptations! Your reviews give me such motivation, the more I get, the faster you'll get to see Nico and Percy hang out! :D


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! I love you guys so much(: sorry for the wait, between school and practice, I didn't have too much time to write. Please, tell me what you think of this chapter, I love hearing your feedback! :D

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Nico stood in the shade of the tree that Percy had told him to wait at. He leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes, relishing the moment of tranquility while he could. The sound of Percy's voice saying goodbye to his friends broke Nico out if his reverie. He heard footsteps approaching the tree, and he stepped out of the shade.

When Percy saw him, he jumped back, one hand clutching his chest. "Nico! I didn't even see you there!"

Nico, not knowing how to respond, simply shrugged.

Percy took a deep breath, then smiled. "Well, my house is this way," he said gesturing in a direction. Nico began to walk, Percy falling in pace beside him. They walked through the streets in silence for a few minutes, before Percy tried to strike up conversation.

"So," he said, "I'm guessing you're Italian?"

"Wow, aren't you a detective?" Nico replied sarcastically. Most people would find this off-putting, but Percy laughed. Nico gave him a skeptical sideways glance, and kept walking. Percy looked over at his project partner.

Nico was pretty pale for an Italian, and his complexion accentuated the tired bags under his eyes. Percy was at least half a foot taller than him. He leaned his elbow on Nico's narrow shoulder. The shorter teen immediately shrugged it off and glared at Percy. The swim captain laughed at the fiery teen. Nico looked back foward and shoved his hands in his pockets. They went on like this for another minute or two.

"This is it," Percy said, stopping in front of a house. Nico was barely able to hide his shock. The house wasn't exactly unusually large; it was probably only a little larger than Nico's. The difference was how damn inviting it looked. The white picket fence and clean cut flower beds painted a picture of suburban perfection.

"Nico?" Percy asked, already halfway to the front door. Nico realized he was still at the end of the driveway. He hurried up next to Percy, scolding himself for looking stupid. Percy smiled a little, before turning and opening the door. The inside of the house was just as charming as the outside, warm and comforting.

"Mom?" Percy called.

"I'm in the kitchen," Nico heard a happy voice answer. Percy walked down the hallway, Nico awkwardly trailing behind him. They entered a kitchen, the smell of cooking food thick in the air.

"This is my friend, Nico," he said, the aforementioned teen furrowing his brows slightly at the use of the word 'friend.' "We have a project to work on."

"Hello Nico," the lady said, smiling at him sweetly.

"Hello Mrs. Jackson," Nico said politely.

"You can call me Sally," she said, and Nico immediately knew where Percy got his good nature from. He gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

"We'll be up in my room working on it," Percy told her, and then started toward the stairs.

As they walked to his room, Percy said, "My dad's at service with the navy, so he isn't home much. But my Mom and I get along fine, just the two of us." Nico nodded. Percy looked at him as if he was waiting for him to explain some of his life, but Nico offered nothing.

They entered Percy's room, and Nico wasn't surprised by what he saw. The walls were a deep navy, and the other furniture and accents of the room were varying shades of blues and greens. Percy walked in and pulled two green bean bags out of the corner and threw them into the middle of the room. He sat down on one and Nico gently sat down in the other, feeling awkward sitting on a bean bag chair on Percy's floor. Apparently, Percy didn't.

"Okay," he said, opening his backpack. "Should we start with the written reports?" Nico hadn't even known there was a written report.

"I guess," he replied. So, each teen set out working on their essays on their respective gods. Nico found himself asking a lot of questions to Percy, who surprisingly knew an extraordinary amount about the Greek gods. Time flew by like sand on the beaches of Marathon. Nico found he actually didn't mind being there, but he wouldn't admit that.

'Well, just because this isn't as grueling as I thought it would be, doesn't mean I enjoy hanging out with Percy,' Nico thought stubbornly. After about two hours like this, both teens were almost done with their reports. They decided to call it quits and pack up their stuff.

"Percy!" they heard being called from downstairs. "Dinner's ready!" Nico picked up his bag and the two walked downstairs. Percy went to turn into the kitchen, but then noticed Nico wasn't coming with him.

"Um.. Nico? Where are you going?" he asked.

"Home?" Nico said, giving Percy a confused look as if it were obvious.

"But we're gonna eat now." Nico looked baffled for a few more moments, before his face light up in understanding, and then panic.

"No, no I couldn't impose," he said, waving his hands around in front of him, apparently to emphasize this. "I'm not even hungry anyway." This statement was nullified when Nico's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.

Percy had to cover his smile with his hand at the look of horror that spread across Nico's face. He figured Nico definatly wouldn't like that he was getting amusement out of this.

"Boys?" Mrs. Jackson asked as she stepped into the hallway. "You don't want the food to get cold. I made sure to make enough for leftovers, so we have more than enough for three."

Percy raised his eyebrows, saying a silent 'You gonna turn that down?' Nico sighed in defeat and walked into the kitchen with them. The table was set with a bouquet of blue flowers as the center piece, three sets of plates piled with food surrounding it.

Seeing the sight of the dinner, Nico was reminded of the measly snack he had last eaten nearly twenty four hours ago. It took all of his strength not to bound over and fill his empty stomach then and there. Instead he very carefully walked the same pace Percy and Sally were, almost tiptoeing to the table. They all sat down, and Nico dug his fingernails into his palms to keep from pouncing on the plate. Sally and Percy were having some conversation that Nico didn't understand.

They began to eat, and Nico tried his best to eat at the same pace. He failed though, and if Percy and Sally noticed, they didn't say anything. He managed to get a hold of himself after his first plate, and resolved to not get a second.

"Nico, have some more," Sally insisted. Nico shook his head and looked at the clock. He paled when he saw the time was almost eight at night.

"I have to go," Nico said, standing up abruptly. "Thank you, Mrs. Jackson." He grabbed his bag and slipped out of the room before Percy or Sally could say anything. They heard a faint click of the front door and looked at each other.

"What was that about?" Sally asked.

Percy shrugged. "No idea."

•*•

Nico speed walked down the dark sidewalks, blending into the night's billowing shadows.

'Shit,' he thought, clenching his fists. 'Why did I think that was a good idea?' He turned onto his street and slowed down his pace. He looked at his rundown house, ominously hovering over him. Nico took a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm his racing heart.

He crept down the path and stood outside the front door. He shook out his sweaty palms before gently opening the door, no sound being made. He slid in and shut the door with the same inaudible method he had opened it with. His breathing was silent, and he began to relax in the comfort of the house's darkness.

Suddenly, the lights flipped on, blinding Nico with their sudden brightness. Before his eyes could adjust, he felt a boot-clad foot hit him square in the chest, throwing him onto the floor with smack. He grimaced but made no sound. He opened his eyes and saw Hades looming over him, an infuriated look on face.

"You think you can not show up today, and then just come back and try to sneak in?" he said in a dangerously low voice. Nico said nothing. Hades put his heavy boot between Nico's neck and shoulder to hold him down. Nico glared defiantly at him.

Hades narrowed his eyes and then appeared to get an idea. He leaned down on his heel and stepped down on the foot holding down Nico. Nico heard a crack. His face scrunched up and he shouted out in pain.

Hades face went slack in shock and took his foot off of Nico's shoulder. Over all of the years this had been going on, Nico never succumbed to pain to the point of yelling out. So, this was more than a little unnerving to Hades. He looked at the small boy on the floor below him, Nico's teeth gritted and face contorted in pain. Hades did possibly the nicest thing he had ever done for Nico, and left him alone on the floor.

Nico didn't know how long he stayed there, but he eventually pushed himself up, carefully and only using his left arm, the side Hades did not step on. He felt a burning throughout his shoulder, leading up to the base of his neck. He clenched his teeth and walked up the stairs, moving as little as possible.

Nico gingerly walked into the bathroom and opened the cabinet with his good arm. He shuffled through a few boxes before he found his secret stash; a bottle of Advil and some gauze. He swallowed two of the pills dry and braced himself for what he had to do.

After about ten minutes and alot of muttered curses, Nico managed to get his shirt off. His collarbone was swollen, and a large bump was forming. He sighed and did the best job wrapping it he could with only one arm. The Advil began to take the edge off of the pain, and Nico's face relaxed slightly at the small relief.

With his badly wrapped shoulder, Nico slowly walked to his room. He laid down on his bed very gently, lying on his back to avoid irritating his shoulder.

Not looking foward to the morning, Nico closed his eyes and attempted to sleep.

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I hope you guys enjoyed that! Tell me in the reviews. And by the way, Nico has a broken collarbone if I didn't write that clear enough (:


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! This chapter isn't the longest, but I felt I needed to update(:

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Percy knew there was something wrong when he saw Nico come into homeroom that morning. He was walking very stiffly, a stark difference from his usual graceful self. His expression was void, but it seemed he was only just achieving this.

Percy followed him with his eyes as Nico walked to his seat and sat down very delicately. As Nico did this, a slight scrunch of his face broke through his blank mask. A cloud of foreboding seemed to trail him. Despite this, Percy got up from his seat without a second thought. He walked up to Nico, who was decidedly was looking out the window with clouded eyes.

"Nico?" he said tentatively. Percy expected Nico to have heard him approaching like usual, but apparently this time he hadn't. The short teen jumped and the movement seemed to be immediately regretted. He glared at Percy with a venom Percy would have never dreamed Nico could muster.

"Leave me alone, Percy," he spat.

"What happened?" the swim captain asked.

"Leave me alone, Percy," he growled slightly louder.

"What happened?" Percy asked more sternly.

"Leave me alone!" Nico shouted. The room went silent, but neither teen noticed. They stared at each other, Nico's eyes filled with anger and Percy's calculating. The teacher chose that moment to walk in the room. He looked around, confused. All of the classroom's eyes were on Percy and Nico. The teacher sighed.

"Percy, sit down," he said. "The bell will ring-" but he was cut off by the sounding of said bell. He pointed at the sky as if to say 'See?' Percy gave one last look to Nico, whose head was now leaned down allowing his hair to cover his face, and walked back to his seat reluctantly.

Percy couldn't focus the whole class, even worse than usual. He kept wondering what could have changed Nico's attitude so much in the few hours they weren't together the previous night. The bell sounded after what seemed like an eternity, and all of the students stood up to go to their next class. Percy was certain that with the way he was acting today, Nico would not be able to give him the usual slip.

He was about to go over to the rigid teen, but he then heard, "Mr. Jackson." He sighed in annoyance, but quickly put on a pleasant face as he walked up to the teacher.

"Yes, Mr. Chase?" he said politely, hoping that would speed this up.

"I've noticed you've been paying less attention than usual," Mr. Chase said.

"I'm sorry, I'll try harder," Percy insisted, tapping his foot anxiously. By now, the whole room had cleared out. The teacher gave him a stern look, before nodding and waving his hand in dismissal. Percy raced out of the classroom and scanned the hallways quickly, before deflating when he didn't spot a mop of messy, black hair bobbing in the sea of people.

Grover walked over to him, giving a skeptical look. "What's up, Percy?" he questioned. Percy switched from looking dejected to easygoing with a disturbing fluidity.

"Nothing. What do we have next, Global?" And with that, the two friends walked down the hall to go about their day.

•*•

Percy leaned against the outside of the building, trying to get control of his breathing. He had somehow convinced his teacher to let him leave the class five minutes before the final bell for some kind of swim team preparations.

Most of the teachers had an unexplained soft spot for him and his good intentions, but even with that, it had still taken the teacher awhile to believe his absurd story. He hadn't even told her what kind of 'preparations' the swim team could possibly need. So when he finally got permission, he had to sprint outside, almost falling on his face. Actually, he had tripped going down the stairs, but thankfully no one saw his failure.

The last bell sounded throughout the school, its ring faintly protruding from the school's brick walls. Not even a minute later, a short teen emerged from the school doors. He glanced around slightly, but didn't spot Percy. Percy wondered how the hell Nico got out of the school so fast, but he didn't have time to speculate this.

Nico was walking slower than that first day Percy tried to catch him after school, and the swimmer had no trouble keeping up with him. Percy left his post at the side of the school and walked up behind the teen. "Nico."

The said teen faltered in his step, but continued walking without a glance spared. Percy sped up his pace and walked even with the Italian.

"Nico," he tried again. He received the same answer of empty air. Percy was getting uncharacteristically impatient. He pouted; how could he force Nico to react? Then he got an idea.

With a grin on his face, he leaned his arm on the short teens shoulder like he had the previous day. He expected an annoyed reaction like he had prior, but the reaction he actually received was very different. Instead of simply shrugging him off, Nico clamped his eyes shut and hissed in pain. He knelt down until Percy's arm slid off and fell back to his side. With gritted teeth, Nico continued walking. Percy stood in shock for a moment, before he hurried back to Nico's side.

"What was that?" he asked in a concerned voice.

Nico rolled his eyes at the tone. "Just leave it, Jackson," he muttered.

"Why won't you tell me!" Percy demanded, annoyed how Nico was brushing him off like it was no big deal.

"Why do you care?" Nico asked in an exasperated tone, halting his walking.

Percy stopped too. "Because we're friends."

Nico scrunched up his face. "Percy, I've known you for two days."

"I know, but I care about you, and I can't really explain why," Percy replied honestly.

Nico seemed to contemplate this, then chose to roll his eyes. "Percy, I know you're nice and all, but you shouldn't care. Just forget that we ever did this project and get on with your life. I don't need anyone to care about me."

Percy opened his mouth to say something, but Nico already turned around and began to leave. When Nico was about twenty feet down the road, he looked behind him to make sure Percy wasn't going after him. At the sight of an empty street, he breathed a sigh of relief. He allowed his posture to slump in a position that was more comfortable for his collarbone.

Today was tiring. It was bad enough with Leo's minor badgering about what happened, but mixed with Percy's adamant pestering, Nico was about to kill someone. After school, Nico hadn't had the energy to spare in order to yell at Percy, so he hoped talking would have a better effect than the cold shoulder.

'Hopefully he'll leave me alone now,' Nico thought to himself as he turned onto his street. The sight of his house sent a shiver down his spine, which his shoulder definitely did not agree with. He grimaced and then scowled, determined to be strong.

Nico's hope for Percy was fallacious. Distracted with his thoughts, he hadn't noticed a silent figure trailing him. Percy smiled to himself. People always believed he was only capable of benevolence, and that helped him get away with things they probably wouldn't agree with. And Nico definatly wouldn't agree with this.

'I don't know what's up, but I'm gonna find out,' he thought as he followed the small teen. 'You're mistaken; everyone wants people to care about them.'

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Your reviews help me know if I'm still going in the right direction with the story! I wanna know if you guys like where I'm going with this; I don't wanna disappoint! :p


	5. Chapter 5

I love all of you guys that followed, reviewed, or favorited! you all make me so happy(: sorry if this isn't the longest, I was planning on adding some more things but I wanted to get the chapter out, so ill put those in the next one.

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Percy watched as Nico walked up the path to his front door. He winced, not in disgust, but in guilt. Nico's house was littered with weeds and some cracked pavement, matching the chipped and peeling white paint. Percy thought of his warm, yellow house with its flowered lawn. It seemed unfair that Nico got this.

The small boy slipped into his house with a seemingly copious amount of stealthiness. Now that his target was out of sight, Percy wondered what he was actually planning to do.

He left his hiding spot and crept up to the house. He listened carefully and heard a deep voice, definatly not belonging to Nico. The voice made Percy's skin crawl for reasons he couldn't explain. Percy strained his ears, but the voice was too muffled to make out anything.

'Maybe I should find a window to look into,' Percy thought, and began making his way around the house. The first window he looked in appeared to lead to the kitchen. The room was empty, and Percy was about to move on when Nico walked in. Percy tensed, sure he was about to find out some big secret about the teen that he could help with.

He watched under the cover of some bushes, but gradually got more and more bored as Nico began to make a can of something. After about ten minutes, Percy just felt downright creepy. He assessed his options.

'Okay, so I've just watched Nico make a can of soup for ten minutes.. not exactly what I had planned,' he thought. 'How can I make myself feel like less of a stalker?' Percy pondered this for a minute as Nico poured the soup into a bowl.

'So, stalkers hide.. therefore if I make myself known, I'm not a stalker!' With this poor reasoning, Percy came out of the branches' cover and placed his face right next to the window, a goofy grin adorning it, and hoped Nico would look over so he could technically not be a creep.

To Percy's excitement, Nico did spot him and promptly jumped about a foot in the air, dropping the bowl he was holding on the floor with a huge crash. Steaming soup and glass scattered across the dirty tiled floor in disarray. Now over his shock, Nico glared at Percy, who simply waved happily.

Nico began to walk over to the window, probably to yell at him, when both teens heard monstrous footsteps approaching the kitchen. Percy looked confused and ducked back into the bushes' foliage, while Nico's face lit up in panic. Percy watched as a behemoth of a man stomped into the room, his face further drawing in anger at the sight of the mess.

Nico stood his ground, but just barely. 'Shit, shit, shit!' he chanted in his head. 'Percy is right outside the window!'

Hades took in the full sight of the room, and said in a dangerously low voice, "Is this dinner?"

Nico nodded.

"Why is it now decorating the floor?"

Nico tried to sound apathetic, but his voice shook slightly nevertheless. "I slipped," he muttered.

"Slipped?" Hades growled. Nico flinched at the tone, but was immensely grateful that Hades wasn't yelling. At least Percy wouldn't be able to hear this. He nodded again.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so clumsy," Hades spat and began advancing on Nico. Nico glanced towards the window and could just make out Percy's sheepish face.

'This might just look like a father admonishing a son,' Nico reassured himself frantically. So, he quickly backed up into the hallway, out of the kitchen window's line of sight.

Hades smirked. "Wow, you never used to run," he mocked. "Are you getting even weaker?" Nico said nothing, instead setting his jaw and staring Hades in the eyes. Hades didn't like this.

The huge man walked up to Nico, and any semblance of mercy he had somehow scrounged up the day before was gone. He brought up his fist and struck it down on Nico's injured collarbone. Nico bit down on his lip so hard it drew blood.

'Percy's outside. Don't scream,' he repeated the mantra in his head. Somehow, he managed it. Hades, infuriated, began to punch and hit Nico out of frustration. Nico barely felt it, all attention on his newly throbbing collarbone. Eventually, Hades seemed to get bored.

"Stay out of my sight," he growled, and left Nico. Nico stood there for a moment, gathering himself before he, ignoring the aching, limped back into the kitchen. He glanced towards the window and breathed a sigh of relief when it was Percy free.

He limped up the stairs and went straight for his Advil stash. He popped in a few, however doubting they would do much to the now agonizing pain spanning from his shoulder to neck. Nico worked up his courage and decided to chance a look at the area.

He pulled his shirt and the loose wrapping aside and grimaced at what sight greeted him. There was a baseball sized lump about halfway to his neck, dusted in bruising, along with the area surrounding it. Nico furrowed his brow, confused on how a simple bump and some brusies could hurt so much. It's not like he wasn't used to these ailments. He poked the lump, only to regret it seconds after. It didn't feel like a normal bump from hitting something too hard.

'What could it be?' Nico thought. 'Maybe it's.. a bone?'

The more Nico thought about this possibility, the more plausible it became.

Suddenly, Nico wanted to slam his head against something.

•*•

Nico stormed into homeroom and stalked right up to Percy's desk. "Why were you looking in my window?"

Percy seemed thrown off at first by the sudden interrogation. "To scare you," he answered after a moment.

"To scare me," Nico repeated in disbelief. "Well you certainly achieved that, didn't you? Can I ask why?"

"To make you happy," Percy answered with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Happy?"

"Yeah, you seemed sad yesterday," Percy said. He hoped Nico bought his excuse, and didn't suspect he was a stalker. Nico pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Do I look happier?" he asked sarcastically.

Percy grinned. "Well, you're talking to me. That's better than yesterday."

Nico rolled his eyes. "You're insufferable, Jackson," he snapped and began to walk to his own desk in the back of the room.

"Love you too, Neeks!" Percy called to the teen's receding back. Nico flipped him off over his shoulder. The bell rang and Mr. Chase walked in briskly, his monotone voice being automatically tuned out by most of the class.

"It's Thursday, and your projects are due Monday. That's more than enough time to finish," he said. The class groaned collectively. "Oh, you're all full of it. Open to page 547 in your textbooks please."

Nico decided this was a good point to stop listening, since looking out the window was much more interesting than looking at a textbook. He let his thoughts wander, and was frustrated at how much they seemed to enjoy going to a certain swimmer.

'Damn, what the hell?' Nico thought angrily. 'It must be because he's been talking to me all week and even followed me home yesterday.' Nico mentally kicked himself again for not noticing his secret companion during his trip. 'That's it. I'm sure it is.'

Nico had a sneaking feeling that he was lying to himself, but he squashed it down without a second thought.

•*•

Nico left the school at the end of the day and was immediately joined by Percy. He sighed in resignation. "How do you get out here so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Percy countered.

"I always skip gym, my last period class. Your turn."

"I told my teacher I have to leave five minutes early every day for swim team preparations."

Nico looked at him critically to see if he was lying. "Wow. That's dedication," he said sarcastically, and continued walking.

Percy shrugged. "We're friends."

Nico furrowed his brow. "Percy, we were project partners."

"Yeah, and now we're friends."

"You don't just decide that," Nico muttered.

He tried to speed up his pace to get away from the swimmer, but Percy grabbed his hand. Nico yanked his arm, thankfully the uninjured one, but Percy's grip was too strong. After a few more tugs to no avail, Nico walked a few steps ahead of Percy, one of his arms awkwardly held behind him by Percy's hand. Percy smiled; Nico's begrudged walking with eyes narrowed in annoyance, all while still holding Percy's hand, was hilarious to see. Percy realized Nico was very fun to mess with.

After a few minutes of this, they reached Nico's house. Once out front, Percy finally released Nico who quickly snatched his hand away. Percy laughed.

"Bye, Nico. It's okay, my hands are clean."

Nico shook his head and walked up to his door without another word.

Neither teen noticed the almost undetectable smile on Nico's face.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, love you guys!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey! This is a pretty action packed chapter, so tell me what you think! Im really mean to Nico... Ah well!

btw, Leo won't be in this story too much. Im rereading the first series currently, and then I'm going to read the second series, so the only things I know about his character is what my friend tells me(:

* * *

_Once out front, Percy finally released Nico who quickly snatched his hand away. Percy laughed. "Bye Nico. It's okay, my hands are clean." Nico shook his head and walked up to his door without another word._

Nico walked up to his front door, listening to the sound of Percy's receding footsteps. He pulled open the wooden door and slipped in, not surprised when Hades was blocking his path, like usual. Nico was beginning to think Hades just waited at the window to see him coming, desperate for some sort of sick entertainment.

"Who was that?" Hades questioned.

Nico was thrown off for a second. "Who?"

"Don't play dumb with me, that boy you were just walking with." Nico felt the color drain from his face. Apparently, Hades did watch for when Nico came home. The thought made his skin crawl; the image of Hades' ugly face waiting for him, watching through the window's dusty glass. He thought about what Hades must have just witnessed and felt like he had swallowed a rock.

Somehow, he found his voice. "A project partner."

"Ah," Hades said, folding his arms. "I suppose all project partners are very friendly, hm? Holding hands?" Nico's face flushed faintly, a mixture of embarrassment, anger, and disgust.

"You just wait for me to come home, watching out the window? That's pretty pathetic," Nico spat before he even registered the thought, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.

Hades' eyes flashed. "A little defensive, huh? Angry I found out about your boyfriend?"

Nico's eyes widened at Hades conception of the situation. "No, he's not my boyfriend!"

"You take me for a fool, boy?" Hades bellowed suddenly, and stalked towards Nico, a sight the teen knew all too well. He took a swing at Nico's temple, but Nico ducked down in a dodge.

However, Hades anticipated this, and sent an uppercut to Nico's jaw that had him stumbling against the wall. While he was still dazed, Hades swept Nico's legs out from under him, causing him to crash to the ground, his head cracking against the wood floor.

"You think you can hide a boyfriend from me?!" Hades shouted.

Nico shook his head to clear it slightly and yelled up at Hades, "That's not true, asshole!"

Hades' face contorted with rage, and Nico knew he really wasn't playing his cards right, but found himself not caring. Hades kicked Nico in the side, and Nico cursed the man's heavy boots. After a few more kicks to the ribs, Nico knew they had to be fractured in some way. He barely felt it, however, due to the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He pushed himself off the ground, and used Hades' surprise to his advantage. He threw a punch to his foster father's face, having to reach up almost comically to hit the target. Nico's punch didn't have too much weight behind it, but rage seemed to compensate for that.

Hades stood for a moment and touched his nose, and when he withdrew his fingers, they had a few smears of his blood on them. Nico felt such immense joy at the sight of Hades' bleeding nose it almost blocked out his terror. Almost.

Hades bellowed like a wounded animal and brought down his fist on Nico's collarbone, causing him to crumple to the floor. Once Nico was down, he gave a good stomp on it too. The teen saw a spectacular mixture of stars and dark masses swim in his vision while he swore his shoulder was on fire.

Stubbornly, he blinked away the spots clouding his eyes, but definatly could not find the strength to attack Hades again. Hades recongnized this and took the opportunity to stomp on the teen in various places, likely to cause some nasty brusing. Nico scrunched up his face, the sharp pains emitting from his jarred collarbone and ribs almost becoming too much.

Hades ceased his stomping, breathing heavily. "Will that teach you to not hide anything from me, you and your little boyfriend?"

Nico cracked open his eyes, face wrinkled in pain. "You're a bastard," he growled, and spat in Hades' direction.

The burley man narrowed his eyes, and the last thing Nico saw was the man's foot winding back from his head before his world was cloaked in an oppressing black sheet.

•*•

Nico was aware of the cold floor underneath him. He tried to remember why he was there, but his thoughts slipped away from him like water between fingers. After a minute or two, Nico cracked his eyes open. Golden light slipped through the windows, piercing his poinding head like knives.

He squinted and looked around. The house was eerily quiet, the only sound being the slight creak of the walls as strong winds blew. Nico tried to push himself up, but fell back down as the world spun around him, squeezing his eyes shut.

His collarbone and ribs screamed at the sudden movement. Nico searched his brain of a reason his ribs would hurt, but the memory was elusive. The world had stopped spinning, and Nico tried to get up again.

This attempt was more successful. He stood up slowly, groaning in pain. He expected to look out the window and see sunset, but instead, the sun was rising. Nico's eyes widened in surprised panic. He must have been passed out all night.

He slowly made his way up the stairs, grimacing in pain. Nico stumbled into the bathroom and winced at the sight of his bruised jaw.

'I still can't remember what happened,' Nico thought in frustration.

He splashed cold water on his face, which seemed to clear his fogged mind. His memory of the previous afternoon gradually came back to him, and Nico sighed. He pulled up his shirt and saw his side was covered in a mass of ugly blueish purple.

'Taking Advil now wouldn't even do anything,' Nico decided, and limped to his bedroom. By the time he reached the room he was out of breath, and every pant sent sharp pains to his ribs. Nico decided he definitely wouldn't go to school. Instead, he plopped down on his mattress.

Sleep was the best way to alleviate the pain.

•*•

Percy found himself glancing towards the classroom's door every few seconds, anxious to see a certain Italian walk in. He didn't know why, but he didn't really care. All Percy knew is that he wanted to hang out with the fiery teen.

So when the bell rang and Nico's desk was still empty, his stomach dropped in disappointment and, strangely enough, worry.

'He couldn't have gotten sick so quickly,' Percy thought, 'Why wouldn't he come in?'

Percy tried to tell himself that worrying this much because Nico was absent was ridiculous, but he had a bad feeling that he just couldn't shake. All day he was worried, and eventually during lunch, Grover asked what was up. Percy sighed and told him the story, about following Nico home and how he was absent today.

"It'll be fine," Grover said reassuringly. "And anyway, worrying won't help him at all. I don't think he would even want you to worry."

Percy thought about that and nodded his head slowly. "Thanks, Grover. You're the best," Percy said, happy Grover wasn't calling him crazy.

"It's what I do," Grover said in mock arrogance, causing Percy to smile.

Percy glanced around the lunchroom and spotted a teen that he had seen Nico hanging out with. 'What was his name again? Leo. Yeah, Leo Valdez.'

Percy got up and approached him, ignoring Grover's questioning look. Leo watched as Percy walked towards him.

"You're friends with Nico, right?" Leo nodded. "Do you know why he isn't here today?"

Percy expected Leo to call him crazy and obsessive, but instead Leo's face turned from cheerful to serious. He glanced around at the other people at the table and stood up, motioning Percy to follow him. Once they were away from other people, Leo turned to Percy.

"Sometimes this happens. One day he'll be fine, well fine for Nico at least. Then, he'll disappear, usually for a day or two, but sometimes longer. I've been trying for years, but he never tells me why. He just gets angry. I find it better to just give him his space when it comes to this."

Percy nodded. "This has been happening for years?"

"Yeah," Leo said. "Don't worry about it too much, though. Nico's a big boy, he can take care of himself." But even as he said this, Leo looked a little worried.

"Thanks," Percy said with a distracted smile and turned to walk away.

Leo grabbed his shoulder. "I'm serious, Percy. I've known him forever. If you push this subject, you'll only make him close himself off to you."

Percy nodded. "I understand," he reassured him, and walked back to Grover.

In his head, Percy was planning how to get Nico to tell him his secret.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, love ya! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! I love your feedback(: hope you enjoy this chapter. im going to see Catching Fire tonight and im super excited!

* * *

Nico reluctantly opened his eyes after failing to fall back asleep. His alarm clock said it was only three in the afternoon, and although he was still exhausted, sleep eluded him. Nico laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling and wary to move his sore body. By the quietness of the house, he guessed Hades wasn't home at the moment, which was at least something.

He was about to attempt sleep again when a sudden knock on the door snapped his eyes open.

'Who the hell could it be? Maybe.. oh no,' Nico thought in panic and jumped up from the bed. His head swam in dizziness at the sudden movement, but he managed to grab onto the bed frame before he fell.

After the world righted itself again, Nico ran over to his window and saw what he had feared. Urgency winning over his pain, Nico ran down the stairs and flung open the door just as Percy Jackson raised his hand to knock again.

Percy looked surprised, but Nico ignored him. He glanced up and down the road and saw his foster father's car approaching from the adjacent street.

"Shit," Nico muttered as he tackled the larger teen and somehow managed to send them both flying into a bush with a pained groan.

"What-" Percy started but was cut of by a hissed 'be quiet' from Nico. Under the cover of the bush, Percy looked Nico over. The teen was pale and looked exhausted. There was a nasty bruise sprawled out along his jaw. Due to Nico's long sleeves and jeans, Percy really couldn't see much else. He tried to read Nico's eyes, but they were clamped shut. The Italian's breaths came out in short gasps, as if breathing was a worrisome task.

Percy was about to ignore Nico and ask what was going on again, but he heard a car pull into the driveway, and was compelled into silence. The two teens sat tensely as the sound of a car door opening and closing was heard. Heavy boots walked to the door, dangerously close to them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the man was inside the house. Percy let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Why are you here?" Nico hissed through gritted teeth.

"Why weren't you in school today?" Percy asked, though looking at Nico, it was quite obvious he was in no state to go.

"Don't answer my question with a question."

"I think I have a right to know why you tackled me into a bush."

"You shouldn't have come here," Nico muttered. He adjusted how he was sitting and grimaced at the movement.

Percy's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Nico, where did you get that huge bruise?" Nico's fingers absently ghosted over said bruise.

"You shouldn't have come here," Nico repeated.

"Why not?" Percy asked, growing slightly impatient and worried at Nico's vague and ominous words.

"You shouldn't have come here."

Percy sat in silence for a moment, not knowing how to reply to that. He decided to put his hand on Nico's shoulder in comfort, but gained a hiss of pain and a flinch, causing him to snatch his hand back.

"Nico," Percy said in a concerned voice. The short teen wouldn't meet his eyes. Percy gently grabbed Nico's chin and forced him to. "Nico," he said softly, "what's going on? Tell me."

For a moment, Percy saw Nico's eyes fill with pain and vulnerability. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then clamped it shut. The look Percy had previously seen in Nico's eyes was once again guarded, leaving a shielded look of wariness. He clutched his side as he stood up.

"Don't let that man see you when you leave. Please," Nico said, and then slipped quietly into the house. Percy sat for a minute in the bush alone, trying to comprehend everything that had just happened. Deciding that he had no idea, he slipped out of the bush and crept off of the lawn, knowing the least he could do was follow Nico's wishes.

'What was that?' Percy thought as he continued his way to his house. 'Obviously Nico didn't want his dad to see us. Plus, he was hurt.'

Percy sighed in annoyance. He felt the answer was painfully obvious and that he was just being dense.

But whenever the idea came to him, it left just as quickly.

•*•

Nico watched as Percy snuck out of his yard, and immediately felt more relaxed. He had managed to sneak upstairs without Hades bothering him, which was a pretty big feat in itself. Nico sighed and laid back down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

'I can't believe I almost told him,' Nico berated himself. 'What, I tell the first nice person who wants to know? Pathetic.'

Nico threw a nearby pen in frustration.

'Why is he so persistent anyway? Leo knows when to back off. He could learn something from Leo.'

Nico felt his eyelids drooping, and the pain from tackling Percy began to catch up with him. He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, images of sea-colored eyes dancing through his dreams.

•*•

On Monday, anyone would have thought Percy had a string attaching himself to Nico. Wherever Nico was, Percy was no more than five feet away. Percy thought he was being sneaky and was going on undetected. Meanwhile, Nico had known he was there since first period.

'That can't be normal,' Nico thought to himself as he walked into the lunch room, Percy darting through people a few feet away.

"Percy, I know you're there, and this isn't accomplishing anything," Nico said, seemingly to himself. Nico saw Percy freeze out of the corner of his eye. He smirked as he reached his table and sat down. He glanced behind him and saw Percy sulking over to Grover, probably disappointed at his terrible sneaking and too awkward to be near Nico's 'friends'. Finally rid of his little follower, Nico sighed and put his head in his arms.

Leo, who was sitting across from him said, "What's up?"

"I have a stalker," Nico said, his voice muffled by his arms.

"A stalker?" Leo said with a grin. "Who?"

Nico lifted his head. "Percy."

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah, he even showed up at my house on Friday."

Leo sighed. "That guy just doesn't listen."

"Huh?"

"Well, he asked me where you were on Friday, and I told him not to badger you about it," Leo explained.

"Oh. Well... thanks," Nico said slowly.

"It's what friends are for," Leo said with a wink.

"I'm gonna skip the rest of the day," Nico told him after a moment, standing up carefully. Leo gave him a skeptical look, but eventually just nodded. Nico walked out of the cafeteria, hopefully looking better than he felt.

The bruises on his body had turned an ugly yellow, excluding the angry purple ones on his ribs and shoulder. He could cover them all except the one on his jaw, which he could say was gotten from falling or something equally as stupid.

Nico walked out of the school without any problem, but the thought of walking all the way home exausted him. Only being able to take small, short breaths due to his ribs jutting into his lungs, a task as mundane as walking got him winded, much to his displeasure.

Instead, he decided to sit under the shade of the tree he had met Percy under the prior week. He had just closed his eyes when he heard the sound of footsteps walking towards him. He already knew who it was going to be. The person sat down next to him without a word.

Nico opened one eye and looked at Percy, who was leaning next to him and staring into space. It was early October and chilly out, and Nico cursed himself for not getting his jacket before his left the school. Percy had been smart enough to do that. Nico closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself, shivering slightly.

"Wanna go back to my house?" Percy asked suddenly. Nico gave him a weird look.

"What?" Percy shrugged. "You're obviously cold and would rather not be sitting here, but have a reason not to go back to your house. Mine is closer. Just being a friend," he said with a small smile.

Nico narrowed his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it to his house. He was tired to begin with, only getting three hours of sleep the previous night, and going to school and acting normal had been unexpectedly draining. And it was pretty damn cold.

"Sure."

* * *

i want your opinions; should Percy find out soon? Like next chapter or two? Tell me in the reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for all the opinions! Hope you like what im doing with this(: btw, Catching Fire was amazing!

* * *

It only took the pair a few minutes to reach Percy's house.

"My mom's at work," Percy said as he opened the door. Nico was once again taken aback by how cosy a house could be. Percy walked into what appeared to be a living room, and Nico followed him. The room had a plush couch and armchair set. Family pictures decorated the walls, bringing the room to life with images of a happy family.

"You can sit down," Percy said, gesturing to the couch. Nico nodded stiffly and complied. As he sat down, he wondered how it could be possible for a couch to be that soft.

"Do you want something to eat?" Percy asked.

"No-" Nico began, but Percy was already out of the room and on his way to the kitchen. He shuffled around the cabinets until he found some chips.

'What drink would Nico like.. I think water would be a safe choice.' With the food and drinks piled in his arms, Percy walked back into the living room.

"I don't really know what you like," he said, examining the contents in his arms. "But you gotta like potato chips, right?"

After a moment with no answer, Percy glanced up to see Nico curled up on his couch, asleep. He couldn't help but notice how much younger Nico looked in his sleep. Percy put the snacks on a nearby table and crept over to the couch.

He grabbed a blanket that was sitting on the floor and was about to place it over the sleeping teen, when he suddenly paused. Percy thought about how many times Nico had flinched when he touched his shoulder.

'What he doesn't know can't hurt him,' Percy tried to justify to himself. He reached down and pulled back the collar of Nico's loose shirt with ease. The sight he was greeted with made him gasp. The span of skin running from Nico's neck to shoulder was marred in the middle by a large bump and painful brusing. Percy tried to think about the health course he took in freshmen year.

'It looks broken..' Percy decided, his stomach dropping to the floor. 'That might not be the only place he's hurt.' He timidly clutched the hem of Nico's shirt, face burning with a furious blush. For the second time in a week, Percy had to convince himself he was, in fact, not a creep.

He slowly pulled up the thin fabric, and his face immediately lost its rosy color. Not only was Nico visibly underweight, but one side of his ribs was coated in deep purple bruising. Percy's mind raced.

'Where did this come from? Why didn't he tell anyone? Why.. why..'

Percy let the shirt fall back down, his hand shaking slightly. He solemnly walked over to the armchair and sat down, facing the small teen. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, contradicting how fragile he also appeared at the same time.

'Nico.. what's going on..'

•*•

Nico opened is eyes slowly, wondering why he felt so well rested. He found himself looking at a blue cushion. 'Wait.. blue cushion?'

He whipped his head up and glanced around, relaxing slightly when he saw Percy sitting near him, staring blankly in the opposite direction. "Percy?"

The swim captain looked over at him. "Hey, you fell asleep, and I figured you wouldn't appreciate being woken up. School would've just let out."

Nico watched Percy with narrowed eyes. Percy was looking at him with an emotion Nico couldn't place, making him uneasy.

"Percy, what's going on?" he asked warily. It took the usually carefree teen a second to answer, seemingly debating how to reply.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Percy finally decided to say in a pained voice.

"What?"

"I saw your shoulder and ribs, Nico." Suddenly, Nico's blood was pounding too loud through his head to hear himself think. His stomach clenched.

"Why would you look under my clothes?" Nico hissed, anger being an easy state to default into.

"Because you obviously need help!" Percy exclaimed incredulously, the graveness of the situation winning over his embarrassment.

"I don't need anything, or anyone for that matter!" Nico shouted.

"Yes, you do! Preferably someone with a medical degree, too!"

"What are they going to do for a broken collarbone and ribs, huh? I know what I'm doing, Percy. I can deal with this alone."

"But you shouldn't have to," Percy said in a small voice.

The two sat in a tense silence. Percy eventually broke it. "Let me in, Nico."

The Italian glared at him. "I don't need to 'let anyone in', Percy Jackson. Forget everything you found out about me. Actually, forget I exist at all." Nico got up and started towards the front door.

"You can't mean that," Percy said quietly. Nico paused, but didn't turn around.

"I have to mean it," he said softly.

And with that, Nico disappeared into the pale afternoon sunlight, leaving a very confused Percy.

•*•

Percy sat in homeroom, staring blankly at the board. After Nico had left and Sally had come home the previous day, she could definatly tell something was wrong. She had asked if him if he wanted to talk about anything, but Percy declined. He wanted to talk to someone, but felt like it wasn't his secret to tell. Plus, he didn't even know what was going on himself. How could he explain something he didn't even understand?

Nico walked in right as the bell rang, deliberately not looking at Percy. Although he hid it well, Nico was terrified. Someone knew his secret. Well, not all of it, but still, enough. He felt exposed and vulnerable, the walls he had built over the years crumbling down. He had no idea how Percy would react to the situation and figured he could avoid finding out.

After homeroom, Nico managed to not see Percy again the whole day, which really wasn't that big of a feat, since Percy wasn't trying too hard to talk to him either.

'Maybe I finally scared him off,' Nico thought. That should have made him happy, but he felt a pang in his stomach instead. Nico spent the rest of the day with a mixture of fear, worry, and oddly enough, disappointment. Though he wouldn't address that last emotion.

Nico's theory was proven wrong that afternoon after school, when Percy was waiting for him once more. The two walked in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry," Percy said. Nico gave him a weird look.

"For what?" he asked.

But Percy just kept looking foward and gave him no answer. Nico was very confused and more than a little worried about the cryptic apology, but decided to leave it. They reached Nico's house a minute or two later. They stopped a little way down the road, not directly in front, so Hades couldn't see them through the house's windows.

"Make sure you don't go past my house," Nico grumbled. Percy nodded distantly, seemingly deep in thought. Nico decided to ignore it and walk away. He felt fidgety, as if something bad was about to happen, and that he should be doing something to prevent it. Nico tried to shake off the feeling.

'Stop being so paranoid,' he told himself. 'Just focus on getting to your room without angering Hades.' He crept into the house and felt relief when the path to the stairs was empty. Nico quickly went to the bathroom, before his luck ran out. He took some more Advil, realizing with a sigh that the bottle was almost empty.

He slipped into his room and finally relaxed for the first time that day. Nico was about to sit when the sound of a knock on the front door made him freeze.

'Not again,' he thought. He sighed and was about to go tell Percy to go away when he remembered that Hades was home. Nico gripped his doorknob for dear life, as if it was the only thing keeping him connected to the world. His stomach dropped and he suddenly got lightheaded, as if he just jumped off a high building.

He wasn't sure how long he stood like that, but by the time his brain began to work again, he heard voices coming from downstairs. He fumbled with the doorknob, hands shaking, before finally yanking it open. Nico tiptoed to the top of the stairs and looked down, the front door in full view.

"I don't really care what your name is," Nico heard Hades saying, "What do you want?" He strained his ears, and managed to hear Percy take a steadying breath.

"Are you aware that your son is hurt?" he blurted out in a rush. Looking back on it, Nico was amazed his heart didn't stop at that moment, by the way his chest clenched painfully.

"Is that so?" Hades said in a tone Nico was all too familiar with. "Well, I'll have to go check on that." Hades slammed the door shut in Percy's face. Nico's legs were threatening to give out from under him.

"Nico," Hades called out. When he glanced up and saw Nico standing at the top of the stairs, his mouth curled in a manic grin.

"You told your little boyfriend you're hurt?" he spat, walking slowly up the stairs. Nico couldn't move. Any of the strength he had previously found to punch Hades had deserted him entirely. Hades reached Nico and grabbed his arm.

"Did you want him to help you? No one can or will."

Hades jerked his arm, knocking Nico off balance and sending him toppling down the stairs. Nico's world was filled with swirling images and pain until he finally crashed to a stop. He landed right on his collarbone, earning a short yelp before he quickly snapped his mouth shut.

"You think you're tough?" Hades growled, walking down the stairs to stand over Nico. He glanced around the room, and his smile widened when his eyes landed on a nearby vase. He reached over a grabbed it.

"Isn't this pretty?" he muttered, turning it over in his hands before suddenly throwing it down at Nico. The vase hit Nico on the arm and shattered on impact, leaving three cuts that immediately began to ooze blood. Nico scrunched up his face in pain and hoped the cuts didn't merit stitches. Hades' face fell.

"Still too tough, huh?" He stomped down on Nico's hurt ribs, gaining a strangled yell. "Oh, so you can feel pain, huh? This is what you deserve. Remember Bianca?"

Nico's eyes flew open at the mention of the name. Hades smiled, satisfied at the reaction.

"You think that story wasn't on your file? What happened to your sister is your fault. When you feel some of the pain she must have went though, you run to your boyfriend? She would be ashamed."

Nico's head was pounding. "You don't know that!" he exclaimed, although his voice was laced with underlying doubt. "You didn't know her!"

Hades scowled. He gave Nico two hard kicks to the side and a subsequent stomp to the collarbone. Nico's vision filled with stars, and he didn't remember yelling out, but he must have since Hades wasn't yelling about him 'being tough'.

Or maybe he was. Nico didn't really know anything, expect he was pretty sure Hades may have set his side and collarbone on fire. He heard Hades saying something, but couldn't concentrate on it. He stared at the ceiling and was only aware that the door opened due to the sudden draft. He registered a few more garbled words spoken.

Nico heard a familiar panicked voice and the sounds of a car starting. He didn't really want to focus on anything. He wondered faintly if he hit his head on the way down the stairs; he couldn't remember.

Suddenly, Percy's face came into his line of vision. He saw Percy's lips moving, but all he could think about was how painful breathing was.

'Why do we have to breath? It would be easier if I stopped.. less painful..' he thought, watching Percy's lips move.

Nico felt his eyelids drooping, but he wanted to know why Percy's mouth was moving so fast, and why he was shaking him so much. It hurt, and Nico wanted to tell him to stop, but his mouth wouldn't work. His eyes closed, and a few words somehow penetrated his fuzzy ears.

"It's okay. You're okay."

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Ah cliffy! Im mean... Thanks for the reviews and follows and favorites! They are so appricaiated (:


	9. Chapter 9

Hey! I had this chapter written, but didn't really like it, so I rewrote it. I like it alot better than the other one, and I hope you guys do too(: might be a little short though..

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Nico was floating in a sea of blackness. Some might be scared, but he wasn't. Actually, it was the happiest he had been in awhile. He felt no pain, which was odd. Nico decided to ignore this unsettling development and just enjoy the shadows billowing around him.

The world seemed against him though, for at that moment he felt an annoying tugging at his forehead.

'Maybe it'll go away if wait it out,' Nico mused sleepily. However, the tugging only became more prominent and even began to sting slightly. He swung his arm, hoping to swat away whatever was causing his annoyance. It felt like he was swinging his arm through a pool of syrup, taking way too much effort to move. He didn't really care though, because the tugging stopped.

Before he could be too content with his victory, it began again. Nico, determined not to lose, swung his arm as hard as he could. He hit something and felt a sharp sting in his head, but was satisfied for putting the tugging-thing in its place.

But once again, the persistent tugging returned. Exasperated, Nico was about to attempt to knock the thing away again, when he felt a hand bind his wrist down to the bed.

"Please stop struggling," a man's voice cut through the dense shadows.

'Wait. Bed? Man's voice?' Nico wondered, his sluggish mind struggling to figure out what this meant. He pried his eyes open and was blinded by sudden whiteness. The tugging was still annoying, and with his arm being controlled, he tried to move his head away instead.

"We just want to help you," the same man's voice pleaded.

"Just keep still," a younger voice chimed in.

That voice. Didn't he know that voice? Nico blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the room's brightness. The first thing he saw when they did was a gloved hand hovering over his face. Nico's first instinct was to jerk his head back, but he resisted when he saw the hand was holding some sort of metal tool, deciding that it might not be wise. He moved his eyes over to the side and discovered who was holding his arm down; Percy Jackson. He must have looked as confused as he felt, because Percy tried to explain.

"You're at a hospital. Don't move, the doctor's stitching up your head." This only served to confuse Nico more, and Percy seemed to notice this. He glanced at the doctor, and then mouthed "I'll explain later."

Nico wasn't sure if he had just noticed the headache wracking his brain or if it was a new occurrence. He felt a final strong tug to his head, and the doctor put his tools down.

"Well, your forehead's done. Your arm will probably need a few, but I need to go check on something. Don't move too much; you lost a good amount of blood." Nico nodded slightly, and the doctor strode out of the room. Nico immediately set an questioning gaze on Percy.

The swim captain took a deep breath. "How much do you remember?"

"As of now; basically nothing."

Percy paled as he recalled the memory. "Well, I.. uh.. your dad attacked you. I was outside and heard. He pushed by me and left. I went in and found you like this.." Percy's voice faded into silence.

Nico didn't say anything for a minute or two, his expression unreadable. "Don't call that man my father," he finally said icily. Of all things, this was not what Percy expected Nico to say.

Before he could question it, the doctor strode back in. "Your x-rays are almost done," he said. Nico gave him a weird look. "We took them while you were out," the doctor clarified. "No matter, right now we need to get those gashes on your arm to stop bleeding."

He walked over and sat down on a stool next to the bed, stitching up the arm with a practiced quickness. The room was blanketed in an awkward silence. Percy didn't even notice the he was still holding Nico's arm; actually, neither did Nico.

After a few minutes, the doctor wrapped up his job. He cleared his throat and stood. "Well, I'll be back in a few minutes with the x-rays." When he got no response, he left the room.

Nico looked down at his lap, hair covering in his face. "How much did you hear?" he asked.

"Not really anything," Percy answered. "Voices were muffled.."

Nico opened his mouth, as if to say something, but the door flew open, shocking both teens.

Sally Jackson rushed over to Nico's side. "You got the stitches already? I'm sorry I wasn't here. All that paperwork is killer!"

Nico looked over to Percy with wide eyes, while the taller teen tried not to laugh. "Uh, it's fine," he stampered, red in the face. Sally looked down at Percy's hand grasping Nico's wrist. Her son followed her gaze, and quickly snatched his hand away.

She wore a small smile. "How do you feel, sweetie?" she asked Nico.

He skirmed uncomfortably, not used to people caring. "I'm fine," he insisted. Sally gave him a dubious look, but relented. The doctor walked back in the room, holding two sheets.

"Hello Mrs. Jackson, good to see you again," he said good naturedly while hanging the sheets on the screen.

"You too, Dr. Henson." He flicked on the screen, and it illuminated the sheets, showing images of bones.

"As you can see," he said, gesturing to the first image, "Mr. di Angelo has a broken collarbone. There isn't much we can do for this." Nico have Percy an 'I told you so' look. "Some doctors put the arm in a sling, but this can actually displace the bones for healing, especially in Nico's case. The bones are already mere millimeters away from needing surgical correction, so it's critical he doesn't use this arm or suffer any substantial blows to it." It was Percy's turn to return the look.

The doctor pointed to the second image. "He also has about three broken ribs, which were dangerously close to puncturing something. It seems they have been very unnaturally displaced, which is curious." He gave Nico a calculating look, which he avoided. "All we can give now is painkillers and rest," he finished. "You may leave when you're ready."

He nodded at Sally once more, and left the room. The three stayed silent for a minute. Sally absently stroked Nico's hand, which made him uncomfortable.

"Well," she said, "are you ready to go, Nico?" He nodded slightly, minding his headache. He rejected anyone's help and stood up. He expected it to hurt, but standing actually hurt the least it had in weeks.

'These painkillers must be stronger than Advil,' he mused, as the trio walked through the hospital. A few nurses gave them a few weird looks, probably because Nico and Percy still had some of Nico's blood on their clothes.

However, no one questioned them until they got to the front desk. As they walked by, the receptionist called out, "Sally, I won't be able to stall the authorities for long."

Sally's face looked worried, but she smiled. "Thanks Anne," she said, "you're already doing so much."

Percy gave his mother a questioning look when they were walking to the car. She looked at him and sighed. "They want to know how Nico got hurt."

Nico's footsteps faltered slightly and he paled, but he tried to stride foward like he hadn't.

Sally gave him a worried glance anyway. "You know how I used to work there. They all still know me, so they're trying to give us as much time as possible to hold off the legal complications."

The three reached Sally's car, and climbed in. Nico and Percy sat in the back. Nico mouthed, "You didn't tell her?" Percy shook his head. This relaxed him slightly, but the thought of eventually dealing with the authorites weighed heavily on his mind.

The car ride was silent. After a few turns, they passed Nico's house. As he watched it disappear in the distance, he sat up.

"Uh, Mrs. Jackson? You passed my house."

Sally looked in the rear view mirror. Her eyes were steely.

"Nico, I may not know what happened, but I know one thing. As long as I can help it, you're never going back to that house."

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I wanna make my updates longer. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry if this is a little short. I wanted to make my updates longer, but need your opinions on something before I continue. I'll ask at the end of the chapter(: btw, I just finished The Lost Hero, and it was amazing!

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Nico had really hoped that Sally would have been able to put off the legal negotiations for more than a day. Alas, he found himself leaving the child services building, not wanting to talk for about a million years.

It had taken the two an hour and a half to complete the report, and that was with Nico telling the social worker the bare minimum. Still, Sally had looked shocked, but she tried to keep an encouraging expression.

However, Nico prided himself in his ability to read emotions, seeing right through this. Unsettlingly, as they walked to the car, Nico couldn't seem to place the glance she kept sneaking at him. He assumed it was disappointment, as he didn't have much experience in that department. It's not like Hades was proud of him in any way; he just expected the worst from him. Nico figured he delivered that well enough. Now, Sally's expectations? He knew he could never live up to those. They climbed into the car in silence.

"You okay, Nico?" Sally asked as they pulled out.

Nico swore he heard distain seep through her concern. He glanced in the direction of his house, wishing he was back there, where he wasn't bothering anyone.

"Fine," he mumbled.

•*•

Back at the house, Percy practically jumped on them as soon as they walked in the door. "Broken collarbone? Surgery?" Nico growled as Percy smashed into them.

Percy froze. "I'm so sorry, I forgot! But what happened?" He looked at Nico expectantly, but got no answer. He turned to Sally.

She smiled. "Well, I'm Nico's legal gaurdian. That was the best we could do without your dad there. He should be back from service in a few months though."

Percy was about to say how great that was, but then he looked at Nico. The small teen seemed to be trying to blend into the background, hunching his shoulders slightly to make himself even smaller. Percy wondered what could be wrong. Wasn't this situation perfect? Everything was better!

Before he could ask, Nico trudged up the stairs, muttering an almost inaudible, "Thanks, Mrs. Jackson," as he passed. Percy was about to follow him, when his mom put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked into her sad eyes.

"Give him time; this must've been hard."

Percy nodded slowly and followed her into the kitchen. Sally sighed wearily, putting down her purse and a folder on the table.

"I have do laundry," she said distractedly. Percy nodded, and she left the room. He sat down at the table. He knew how hard she was trying to not smother and scare Nico off. He probably wasn't doing as good of a job. Percy had been trying to get Nico to talk to him about what happened, but of course, it never worked.

Although he was ashamed of it, Percy was almost jealous that Sally was with Nico when he made the report. Sure, Percy knew the gist of the situation, but he found it mostly frustratingly vague. How could he know what to say to Nico?

Percy groaned and dropped his head to the table, confused when it hit paper instead of the cool wood. He furrowed his brows and opened his eyes, the sight of a yellow folder greeting him. In small print on the tab, it read, "Nico di Angelo: Orphan." Percy's heart raced and his eyes widened as the word's meaning dawned on him.

'Orphan? That man wasn't his dad?' At the thought of the man, guilt coursed through him. Not only did Percy believe he failed to help Nico, but he also blamed himself for his hospital trip. The memory of asking the very man who had hurt Nico if he had known Nico was hurt turned his blood to ice.

Almost scared of what it said inside the file, Percy quickly stood from the table as if the it had spontaneously caught flame and rushed up the stairs. He guessed Nico would be in the room that they were sharing, and was right. The lights were off, twilight only giving away indistinct shapes filling the room. Nico was staring out the window and turned just in time to Percy see approach him before he was engulfed in a tight hug.

"Crushing..ribs," he choked out.

Percy loosened his arms, but didn't let go. "I'm sorry," he said. Nico scowled and tried to push Percy away, but he wasn't strong enough.

"I'm sorry," Percy repeated. "I was so blind and stupid. This was my fault." Percy withdrew slightly and gestured to the stitches on Nico's forehead. The raw sadness in the swim captain's green eyes made Nico's heart clench. 'I did that. I made the most cheerful guy ever sad.'

Nico looked down, avoiding Percy's gaze. "Whatever, you need to stop being so dramatic," he tried to sound sarcastic. That made Percy feel a little better. He smiled slightly, ruffling Nico's hair, to Nico's great annoyance, and left the room. When the door had shut, he sighed and let his face fall. Nico turned and dropped his head to the wall, remembering his stitches too late. He didn't mind the pain, though.

'Percy doesn't even know anything,' he thought miserably. 'What would happen if he actually learned the full story?' Nico looked back out the window. The streets were completely void of movement, save a few bushes rustling in the gentle breeze.

'I just waltzed in here and ruined their perfect family. How pathetic.' Nico stood with resolve and quietly left the room.

He tiptoed down the stairs, remembering the day when him and Percy had been assigned as partners, when the stairs he had tiptoed down were cracked and dusty instead. Nico used his stealthiness to sneak out of the house without detection. He let out a sigh of relief when the Jackson house disappeared in the distance. With the sun now gone, Nico relaxed and slid through the descending shadows.

'I don't need anyone, and I don't want to ruin anyone else's life. Bianca..'

He shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets and tried not to attract any attention. The police probably wouldn't be too happy to find a teenager dressed in black sneaking around at night, especially since Nico seemed to radiate trouble. He looked down and watched his converse slap the pavement with each step.

Nico wasn't sure how long he went on like that, but it must have been awhile. The moon had fully risen, trying fruitlessly to imitate the illumination of the sun. He only stopped walking when his ribs and collarbone began to ache.

'Must have been at least three hours,' Nico mused, 'because the painkillers are wearing off.' He stopped walking for a second, and with the lack of motion, he suddenly realized how tired he was.

'Maybe I'll just sit for a minute,' he decided against better judgement. Slipping into the nearest alley, Nico sat down in the closest shadow. His eyes began to droop. The next thing he knew, he could vaguely make out the sound of a speeding car. He tried to turn over and ignore the sound, but the concrete was uncomfortable. 'Wait, concrete?'

Nico's eyes flew open, and it took him a moment to remember how he got there. The sound of screeching tires made him jump. By now the painkillers had completely worn off, and sleeping in an alleyway hadn't helped either. Nico winced. He heard a car door slam nearby, and the sound of footsteps echoed from the sidewalk. Nico held completely still. Someone quickly walked by him, not even sparing a glance. The man rushed into a building, and, straining his eyes, Nico realized it was a twenty four hour bank.

'Someone's in a rush to get money,' Nico thought irritably, annoyed that his caution was frivolous. A few minutes later, the man hurried out of the bank, and then visibly relaxed. Nico saw him stroll back towards his car, getting gradually closer to Nico's hideout. He was about to scooch further into the alley's dark safety when he froze.

The pale moonlight shone on the man's face.

Hades.

Nico clenched his fists and felt his heart beating painfully. Hades approached closer, ever closer. Nico stopped breathing, ignoring his screaming lungs.

'Don't see me,' Nico prayed.

But the world had always hated Nico.

They made eye contact.

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I need your opinions! I know this story already kinda had a climax, but mind if I make another? Tell me, idk whats going to happen in the next chapter, but can see this story going one of two ways. So, mind if I make another big event happen before a 'happy ending'? I figured it would be easier than a sequel or something. Tell me in reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

Hey! I can't believe this story has over 100 reviews and follows; I love you all! I'm glad you like it(: I love hearing you opinions and ideas after each chapter, so thanks for the feedback!

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_'Don't see me,' Nico prayed._

_But the world had always hated Nico._

_They made eye contact._

Hades' face contorted in rage. "You," he growled. "This is all your fault." Nico's mind went blank, barely able to comprehend what Hades was saying.

"Now I got police after me," Hades seethed. "But you know what? I can get revenge for your pathetic weakness." He started walking towards Nico, slowly. "Look where your little confession got you, anyway. Sitting alone in an alley, with no one caring."

Those words jogged Nico's memory. He had a vague sense that what Hades said wasn't true. Someone did care, didn't they? The image of a certain green eyed teen and his mom popped up in his head. Nico suddenly felt some strength return to his limbs. He jumped up quickly and backed away. 'They care...'

Hades looked slightly annoyed that Nico wasn't going to go easily, but he didn't seem at all worried. "No one wants you. Especially after what you did to your only remaining family," he growled.

Nico faltered for a moment, but then narrowed his eyes. Hades wanted to distract him, but Nico wasn't going to let that happen. "You're the bastard here, not me," he sneered, hoping to sound confident.

Hades chuckled darkly, sending shivers down Nico's spine. "Ah, still have some of that rotten spirit, huh? Well, I'll just have to break that." He began advancing on Nico quickly.

The small teen swiped up a nearby beer bottle, chucking it at Hades before he turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. He wasn't sure if the bottle hit its target, but he couldn't afford to check. Nico got to the end of the alleyway, turning and running down the sidewalk.

Straining his ears, Nico picked up the sound of boots hitting the pavement closely behind him. Hopelessness filled him. Nico wished he had taken more painkillers, his collarbone and ribs burning. He felt fingers brush against the back of his shoulder. Hades was close.

Suddenly, Nico thought of the sad looks that Sally had given him, the guilt that had filled Percy's face. 'I can't let them down again,' he promised himself.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and Nico pushed his legs even faster. His size finally becoming an advantage, Nico swiftly turned down a passing alley, vaulting over the trash cans and junk. He heard a crash that sounded suspiciously like someone colliding with a trash can, but he didn't falter.

Nico emerged back in the street and ran in the direction of Percy's house, weaving through side streets and alleyways in the most confusing route possible.

The only thing he was aware of was the faint jolt each pace sent through his legs. Nothing was real; pain, fatigue. The only thing that dominated Nico's thoughts was a certain cosy house and the people that lived in it. He vaguely wondered how he could be running this fast for this long, but he pushed it aside, focusing instead on the steady slap of his sneakers filling the night's oppressive darkness. Nico was pretty sure he had lost Hades awhile ago, but he didn't slow down or even risk a glance.

After an amount of time that could have been hours or merely minutes to him, Nico realized he wasn't running anymore. He glanced up and realized it was because he was in front of the Jackson house, the faint outline in the moonlight giving him little relief.

The night was silent, no chasing footsteps in the area. Nico raced up the path and flew in the front door, running straight into a worried looking Percy. He stumbled back a few steps, taking in Percy's wide, relieved eyes. "Oh my gosh, Nico, I was so scared-"

Percy was cut off by a bone crushing hug. He stood there dumbly for a moment, before wrapping his arms around the smaller teen. Nico was aware that he was shaking, from the cold or fear, he couldn't decide.

His adrenaline was wearing down, and he became painfully aware of his ribs protesting against his labored breathing. His leg muscles ached. He let himself lean some of his weight onto Percy, who accepted it without question. Percy leaned over and kicked the door shut, not letting go of Nico.

"Let's go upstairs, huh?" he suggested. Nico nodded. He let go of Percy, though Percy made a point of keeping a hand on his shoulder. The pair walked into Percy's bedroom. Nico stumbled over and threw himself onto Percy's bed, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. He put his hands over his face, the night's events catching up with him. He felt the bed dip near his feet.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Percy asked gently. Nico was about to growl out a no, but he hesitated.

'Why be mean to the only people who care about you? If I shut them out, then I'm probably more of a bastard than Hades,' Nico thought grudgingly. He took a deep breath.

"Hades," he said quietly, surprised if Percy could even hear him. "I had to get some fresh air... Hades found me... I ran all the way here.. he wanted revenge..."

Nico was ready for angry questions about why he would leave the house alone so late at night, questions about how stupid he was. The minute that passed felt like an eternity. "You're safe now. I promise, Hades has no power over you anymore. The police will find him, and everything will be alright," he heard Percy finally say shakily, though the power of the words was not lost.

Nico dropped his hands to stare at him. The teen's expression was a contradictory mix of worry and relief, but not anger. Percy ruffled Nico's hair, an infuriating habit, and laid down on the air mattress that sufficed as his bed until they bought another. Although Nico felt tremendously guilty about kicking Percy out of his own bed, the swim captain had reassured him many times that he didn't want to sleep in it.

"You should get some sleep," Percy said into the darkness. Nico thought that was a preposterous idea, that his brain would be too busy to relax into sleep. But, his body had other plans. He began to doze off almost as soon as sleep was suggested.

"Goodnight, Percy," he muttered drowsily into the dark room.

"Goodnight, Nico. I'm glad you're okay; it's okay now."

And for the first time ever, Nico thought that it might, in fact, be okay.

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Btw, that wasnt the big event I'm planning, though it does kinda tie into it. Thanks for reading! I'd love some feedback, I want you guys to enjoy this story :D


	12. Chapter 12

Hey! Warning; big event coming up. Leo may be in this story a tad more now that I've been reading the second series, but I think he's hard to write. Anyway, hope this chapter's good! I made it longer than usual.

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"Oh, it's not bad, Nico," Percy insisted as the pair left the house.

Nico sent him a half-hearted glare. "Why don't you own anything black?" he grumbled.

Percy shrugged. "Guess I never thought about it."

Nico glanced down at the eccentric blue shirt he was wearing in disgust. "But you don't even have a black coat or hoodie?"

Percy shook his head. "I told you, that navy one you're wearing is the darkest I have."

Sally had insisted she wash Nico's clothes, forcing him to borrow Percy's. Even Percy's smallest t-shirt hung loosely on Nico's shoulders and left him drowned in fabric. She made sure he wore at least a sweatshirt if not a coat, which Nico disliked even more than the shirt. He couldn't wait to take it off at school.

"The project's due today," Percy said, shoving his hands in his pockets against the cold.

Nico snorted. "It seems like that project was assigned ages ago."

"It hasn't even been two weeks," Percy muttered. Neither said anything for awhile, letting that sink in. Nico wondered what would have happened if he hadn't been partners with Percy.

After a few minutes, the two arrived and walked into the school together, earning a few stares. Percy was pretty popular while Nico, well, wasn't. Percy looked at a few of the people staring, then grinned and threw his arm around Nico's narrow shoulders, minding his collarbone.

Nico tried to shove him off, but it proved to be a harder task than one might think. "What are you doing?" he growled, lowering his head to hide his slight blush.

"Nothin'," Percy replied easily, not removing his arm. They came to a fork in the hallway, one path leading to their homeroom and the other leading to Nico's friends.

Percy stopped and retracted his arm. "Nico, I'm glad we were made project partners," he said quietly, not looking at him.

"What are you-" Nico started, but Percy was already hurrying towards homeroom. Nico shook his head. "He has to be the most frustrating person I've ever met," he muttered to himself.

Nico took off the almost comically big navy sweatshirt, preferring the bright t-shirt. He shoved it into his backpack and turned away from homeroom, deciding to go see Leo instead.

Nico walked leisurely down the hall. Some people looked at him, probably because of how strange a sea blue shirt looked with his messy black hair and pale complexion, but he ignored them. The shirt smelled faintly of Percy, but Nico wouldn't admit to himself that he noticed. He saw the group in their usual spot, and he was about to wave when someone crashed into him. Nico barely managed to stay upright. He turned, ready to tell someone off, but stepped back when Leo's smiling face ended up being inches from his.

"Jeez, Leo, heard of personal space?" he spat.

"Nice shirt. Did you realize it isn't black?" Leo teased. It seemed he was going to say another teasing remark, but then he looked Nico over and his expression became more serious. "Why do you have stitches in your forehead? And on your arm?"

Damn. Nico had forgotten about that. He wished he had worn long sleeves, but his only other plausible clothing choice was plaid, and he'd choose to wear short sleeves over that any day. "Um.. long story?"

Leo crossed his arms and gave Nico an expecting look. "We have time." The bell rang. "Well.. we'll have time," he said, glaring at the sky as if accusing the bell.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I gotta get to homeroom," he said, turning and walking down the hallway.

"Don't think the bell saved you! You just wait till lunch!" Leo called after him. Nico gave him a sarcastic wave over his shoulder. It was nice to be back at school; easy to pretend everything was normal again. That is, until he walked into homeroom and saw Percy, the last week's events coming back and pestering his mind again.

He slunk to the back of the room, as usual, and sat down as soon as Mr. Chase strode into the room.

"Hand in your projects," he said. "And if you didn't do it, well, sit there and feel guilty." Nico saw Percy get up and hand in their project. When he turned back, they locked eyes. Percy winked and mouthed, "Watch this." He sat back down and raised his hand.

"Jackson," the teacher said, reading something and only half paying attention.

"Thanks," Percy said smugly.

The teacher glanced up from his paper. "What?"

"Thanks," Percy repeated. Mr. Chase looked confused for a moment before he sighed. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "I don't get paid enough for this."

Percy turned around and looked at Nico, grinning, giving him a thumbs up. Nico scrunched up his face and mouthed, "You're an idiot."

Percy must not be good at reading lips, because he mouthed, "Thanks," and turned back to the board, smile not faltering. Nico rolled his eyes and looked out the window, examining the familiar sight of a distant forest. The teacher was saying something, but Nico really didn't care. He needed to sort things out.

Barely two weeks ago, Nico had looked out this window before Percy Jackson was announced as his partner. And now Percy Jackson's mom was his legal gaurdian. 'How could things change so much so fast?'

Was that normal? Nico really didn't know. It took an important person to change someone's life that much, for better or worse. He remembered how Bianca had changed his life, how it worsened after that terrible day. Or maybe it was him who worsened her life. It was Nico's fault, wasn't it? If he hadn't been so selfish and self centered he could have saved her...

Nico stayed on a similar train of thought until the bell rang and almost made him jump out of his skin. He gathered up his stuff, and Percy walked over to his desk.

"I thanked Mr. Chase for making us project partners," he said with a proud smile.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I figured that out. Real cool," he said sarcastically.

"You should wear blue more. It brings out your eyes," Percy said suddenly.

Nico furrowed his brows. "My eyes are so dark; how could blue bring them out?"

Percy looked startled, like he hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Never mind," he said quickly.

Nico shook his head. "Whatever. Anyway, I think I'm gonna leave school soon." Sally had told him he could go back to the house if his shoulder or ribs were giving him trouble. They weren't, but Nico didn't want to deal with talking to Leo, or really anyone.

Percy nodded. "Tell me when. I'll come with you."

"No, stay here," Nico insisted. Percy looked like he was about to protest, but Nico brought out his puppy eyes. It was a pretty demeaning tactic, but it was effective.

Percy sighed. "Fine, but be careful. And, puppy eyes? Really? Not fair."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself." Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Nico winced at how contradictory they were with the last week's events. "Now c'mon, or we'll be late to our next classes."

Percy looked like he wanted to make another attempt at argument, but he decided against it after a pointed look from Nico. "Okay," he said reluctantly. "Let's go."

•*•

Nico decided he couldn't take being at school anymore halfway through third period. The teachers were rambling about things that seemed so insignificant and pointless to him. Who cared about imaginary numbers? Sally had taken him into her home. What year did Napoleon take power? Next to the memory of Hades chasing him along the dark streets, it really didn't matter.

So, the best option to him was to leave. At that exact moment. Nico picked up his bag and walked out of the room, causing the teacher to pause mid-sentence. He vaguely heard her questioning him as the door swung shut. Nico figured since the door was already shut it was too late to explain.

Oh well.

Nico walked through the halls, trying to avoid anyone who might ask him for a pass. Thankfully, he slipped out of the school without question. The cold air hit him like a wall, sucking the air right out of his lungs. The wind whipped at his bare arms, but Nico didn't care. The cold air was actually kind of relaxing.

Nico walked towards Percy's house; he still found it too weird to refer to it as his house too, though it technically was. Nico angrily shoved his hair out of his face, where it was annoyingly flapping in the breeze. After a few minutes, he gave up, letting his unruly black hair go wherever it wanted.

As he turned down another road, Nico felt a tingling on the back of his neck, the kind you get when you watch a creepy scene from a horror film. Nico glanced behind him, but nothing was out of the ordinary. A white car was driving down the road about one hundred feet behind him, but that was normal. Still, Nico couldn't shake the feeling.

'You're being stupid,' he told himself. 'How old are you, five?' Despite this, Nico turned down a nearby dead end road. He walked quickly. Looking behind him, he saw the white car turn onto the road. Nico's heart raced.

'Maybe this was his turn,' Nico told himself, though he was still panicked. He walked as fast as he could while still keeping a semblance of normalcy. Nico reached the end of the road and turned around, going back down the way he came. He passed the car, but the windows were too tinted to see into. Nico ducked his head and watched his feet as he walked.

He was halfway back to the road he had come from when he realized he still heard the car's engine. Slowly, Nico turned his head and saw the white car still trailing him. 'There's no reason for this car to come down a dead end road and just turn around...'

A more optimistic part of Nico's brain wondered if the driver was simply lost, but Nico had a sneaking suspicion that was just wishful thinking. He reached the end of the road and walked towards Percy's house again, following his original path.

To his dismay, the car turned the same way he did. Nico heard the car's engine rev, and it became obvious that the car was going to pull up next to him. He had a feeling it was not going to be a lost traveler.

Trying to not panic, Nico turned and ran onto the nearest house's lawn, heading into the backyards. Nico thanked whoever must have been looking down on him when he found that the yards in this neighborhood didn't have fences between them. Nico sprinted through the grass, hidden from the sight of the street. Although nobody from the road could see him, Nico made his path confusing. At one point, a lady yelled at him from her back porch, something about, "Damn delinquents."

Eventually, Nico found himself in Percy's backyard. He slipped in the back door, and promptly went through the house and locked all the doors, even though the driver had not seen which house he entered.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down on the couch. Obviously someone had been trailing him. The driver had probably been parked somewhere outside the school. Nico covered his face with his hands.

It must've been Hades. Who else? He deliberated over telling the Jackson's and decided against it. He didn't need to worry them. Anyway, now that he knew, he could be careful. Nico sighed.

He could handle this. But, right now he just wanted to take a nap.

•*•

By the time Nico woke up, the sun was low in the sky. Nico guessed school must have let out an hour or two ago. Someone had placed a blanket over him sometime after he fell asleep.

Nico sat up and stretched, wondering how Sally had gotten Percy to let him sleep. He got up and looked around. He didn't see anybody, so he listened. He heard a voice coming from the kitchen, but it made him uneasy. It sounded like Sally, and she seemed upset.

She was on the phone. Nico suddenly regretted just walking out in the middle of his third period class. He hoped it wasn't the school telling her about it on the phone.

Nico walked into the kitchen just as Sally hung up. She turned to face him. A single tear ran down her cheek. Nico felt his throat tighten up upon seeing someone as nice as Sally upset.

"Mrs. Jackson? What's wrong?" he said shakily.

"They found his stuff- it was on the sidewalk- must've been walking-" Sally put a hand over her face, trying to compose herself.

Nico walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. It would've been funny how high he had to reach if the situation wasn't so tense.

"Calm down, it's alright," he said awkwardly. "What's wrong?"

"It's Percy," she choked out. "He's gone."

* * *

dun-dun-DUN! There ya go. i think a few of you guessed this :D anyways, thanks for all the reviews and follows, they really help me! Thanks for reading(:


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry if this took awhile. I tried to make it up by making this my longest chapter yet. I put off starting the House of Hades to write this, so I hope it's good! Thanks for reading(:

* * *

Nico stared at the moon, trying not to think and failing miserably. After Sally had told him the news, he decided to leave her alone, so she wouldn't feel she had to keep strong in front of him. Nico had his hands over his ears. Though it had been hours since he heard her sobs, he didn't dare move his hands in fear of hearing the heart wrenching sound again.

The police were searching for Percy, but in Nico's mind, they might as well have not been. They had no leads in the investigation, though it seemed they felt pretty good about themselves for making Hades a suspect. Nico wrinkled his nose in digust. He could have figured out that much by himself. Of course it was Hades. The image of the white car from hours prior was burned into his mind.

Nico clenched his fists. If only he had let Percy come home with him at third period. If only he had warned someone about Hades trailing him. If only he had let Hades catch him instead. If only he had enough strength to comfort Sally.

Nico stood up suddenly, not being able to stand sitting in Percy's room anymore. He held his breath for a moment, but to his relief, the house was silent. Nico quietly opened the door and crept down the stairs. No lights were on in the house, so Nico figured Sally must have finally fell asleep. He couldn't stand to see her, the guilt almost suffocating him.

Nico walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, not bothering to turn on the light. The moon's glow shone through the window, washing the room in its own eerie light. Nico sighed, leaning his head on his hand.

The police would never find Percy. After years of living with Hades, Nico had definitely learned at least one thing. While Hades was an evil person, he was in no way stupid. Hades knew how people worked and used it to his advantage. He knew where the police would search; the abandoned factory across town, the empty storage units near the supermarket, and even Nico's house, which was just ridiculous. No, Nico knew he wouldn't be found in any of those places. Hades had chosen a place he knew the police wouldn't think of. Which meant the search was futile.

Nico slammed his fist on the table in frustration. Then, he noticed a folder across the table, barely visible. Nico reached over and grabbed it. He read his name on the tab and realized it was his file. Nico thought about how Hades had held this file and flipped through its pages, reading about Bianca. He almost dropped it in disgust, but something compelled him not to.

Instead, Nico slowly opened the folder. He skimmed over the words describing his life, feeling oddly disconnected from the people his file was detailing. His life written in a stanger's words was strange to read and horribly different from living through it. Nico wanted to stop reading at the page describing Bianca and her last days, but some part of his brain wouldn't allow him to, like it had some sick kind of fascination.

Nico tried to pretend he was reading about someone else, that the events were something another person had to deal with. It didn't work very well. Just when Nico was about to slam the file shut, something caught his eye. His heart leapt into his throat, and his lungs couldn't decide if they wanted to stop working or burst into overdrive. It all clicked in Nico's head at once, as if a fog was lifted from his mind.

Hades knew where the police wouldn't check.

Hades knew the police wouldn't check his hiding spot because they hadn't six years ago. He had read so in Nico's file.

Nico jumped up from the table and raced for the front door, ignoring the way his discarded papers flew all over the floor. He ran out into the cold night and kicked the door shut behind him, not thinking about the loud bang it emitted. The frigid air stung his bare arms like knives, but he was still wearing Percy's t-shirt, so it was worth it.

Nico sprinted down the path that he had followed six years ago. He didn't think or even pay attention to his surroundings. Nico had relived that night so many times in his nightmares that his body automatically knew the way. After awhile, his legs screamed in protest, but Nico didn't slow down. He could faintly smell the sea from Percy's shirt, and that was all the motivation he needed.

After a half hour, Nico saw it. He stopped in his tracks, eyes locked on the old building. It was a small, decrepit structure. It only had one floor and one room. The small shack was huddled behind a large willow tree, making it almost invisible from the road, unless you were looking for it. The road was deserted, mainly because the tiny building was in the middle of nowhere.

Suddenly, Nico wasn't there anymore. He was nine years old again, hearing his sister's scream from the street and trying to figure out if he was imagining it. He was panicked and busting into the building, catching a glimpse of his tied up sister before he was hit over the head by an unseen attacker.

Nico shook his head violently, trying to dislodge the memory. He quickly brushed away a lone tear and took a deep breath. Bianca wasn't in the building, and Nico wasn't a nine year old. 'I have to focus. It's too late to save Bianca, but Percy has a chance.'

Nico tried to calm his breathing. He crept closer and studied the crumbling building. Through a dust coated window, Nico could make out a faint light, barely visible but definitely there. He wanted to run inside right at that moment, but he held his ground. Nico was determined to not make the same mistake he did years ago.

He glanced around at his surroundings. A large branch had fallen from the willow, lying in the grass a few feet away. Nico reached over and picked it up. He swung it, testing the weight, and smiled faintly. He now had a weapon. Nico crept around the house and found the door. All the windows were too dusty to see through properly, so he just had to pray that Hades wasn't near the front door. He grabbed the doorknob and took a deep breath. 'This is for Percy,' he reassured himself, grip tightening on the branch until his knuckles turned white.

Nico slowly turned the knob, relieved when the door swung open without any problems. Apparently, Hades was so sure of his hiding place he didn't even think locking the door was a necessary precaution. That was good news; he should be easier to deal with if Nico had the element of surprise.

The small teen peeked his head into the room. It was shrouded in complete darkness, and Nico was actually grateful to the dust on the windows for preventing the moon's light from covering the room. Only the far corner wasn't dark. Nico's breath hitched.

Percy was tied to a rickety chair. Hades was standing by him, messing with something on a nearby table. A small candle was lit, the only light source in the room. Nico quietly slipped into the room, his years of living with Hades making his sneaking skills impeccably good. Hades didn't even glance in his direction, though even if he had he wouldn't have seen Nico. The room was too dark. Nico thanked the shadows for hiding him.

"So, what's the answer?" Percy asked Hades. Percy didn't seem seriously injured, only a few scratches and bruises visible on his face and arms. Or, at least, he wasn't injured yet.

Hades slammed his fists down on the table, ceasing his work. "I told you to shut the hell up! I should've brought a gag," he growled in frustration.

Percy smirked. "But c'mon! I'm sure the world is wondering what made you such a bastard. What's the answer?"

"That's the fifth time you asked me that question! I said shut the hell up!"

"Actually, it's the sixth. But that's okay, I know six is a big number. Maybe one day you'll be able to count up to it," Percy said in faux enthusiasm.

Hades whipped around, cracking his knuckles. "You know what? Fuck it. I'll just make you shut up," he said, walking towards Percy. Nico had been creeping towards Hades in the cover of darkness during this exchange, but he quickened his pace as Hades advanced on Percy.

Percy gulped, but didn't let any fear show. "Oh yes, please knock me out. Then I won't have to look at your ugly face," he said lightly. Nico was glad for Percy's distraction. He quickly walked through the darkness, his sneakers scuffling on the dirt covered floor, but Hades didn't even notice.

"You little..." he growled. Nico tiptoed into the candle's light, but Hades' attention was on Percy. Percy looked over Hades' shoulder and saw Nico, shown by his eyes widening marginally, but he quickly recovered.

"Couldn't finish that sentence?" he teased. "I'm sorry. I guess I'll try to be a little less complicated, then your tiny brain might be able to think of an insult." Nico raised his branch above his head, ignoring his protesting collarbone.

"I can think of an insult now. You little-" But the two would never find out what Hades' insult was. Nico brought the branch down as quickly as he could onto Hades' head, mustering all of his strength. The huge man crumpled to the floor. Nico could've swore he felt something in his collarbone slide, but adrenaline masked everything.

"Nico! How-" Percy was saying, but Nico ignored him. He turned around and searched the table Hades had been working at. There were various tools, but Nico didn't have time to examine them. His eyes caught a glinting knife. He grabbed it and tried not to think about what Hades might have used it for.

Nico hurried over to Percy, who was still talking. "How did you find me? And that stick weapon. You were amazing! You should be Stick Man!" He was babbling, probably in shock. Nico quickly cut Percy's bonds, releasing his wrists and ankles.

"Let's go," Nico said urgently, grabbing Percy's arm and tugging.

"But dude, you came out of nowhere! Can you, like, shadow travel or something?"

Hades was stirring. Nico's heart raced. "Percy," he pleaded, locking his dark eyes with sea green ones. "We need to leave. _Now_."

Something changed in the swim cpatain's eyes. He nodded solemnly. Hades was getting to his feet. The two boys ran for the door, gripping each other's hands tightly. The door slammed shut behind them, and Hades bellowed in rage.

The pair turned and ran in the opposite direction from the city, probably not a good choice. The two didn't seem to think about it. Nico hoped it would take Hades awhile to reach wherever he had hid his white car. They ran down the deserted road for a countless number of minutes, the only sound filling the night being each teen's panting breaths and slapping shoes.

Eventually, they entered an unfamiliar city, but neither slowed. After a few more minutes, Nico's adrenaline was wearing down, and the night's events were catching up with him. He let go of Percy's hand and stopped running, leaning against a nearby building. He already had run half an hour to get to the shack Percy was kept in, and the pair had probably just run another half hour to get to this city. Plus, his collarbone was throbbing, even though his painkillers shouldn't have worn off yet.

He felt Percy's hand on his shoulder. "Wanna rest?"

Nico nodded slightly. The two sat the nearest alley, and Nico made sure they weren't visible from the sidewalk, a mistake he had made before. After a few moments of silence, Percy broke it.

"Nico... how did you find me? I thought it would be days before the police..." He trailed off.

Nico sighed and ran his hands through his disheveled hair. "It was in my file," Nico said, grateful for the darkness shrouding his expression. "Hades knew no one would check there."

"But, how did he know that?"

"Because no one checked there a few years ago when someone was missing..."

"He read that in your file? Why would it say that in your file?" Percy asked, bewilderment soaking his voice. Nico winced. He was shivering, mostly from the freezing air. Mostly.

"I found her there. I-I tried... but I failed.. then it was too late..." Nico's voice faded into the darkness.

Percy waited to see if Nico would offer anything else, but was met with silence. "I'm not really following," he admitted. "Who-"

Percy was cut off by Nico's hand clamping over his mouth. Percy tried to pry the smaller teen off, but Nico pinched his arm. Percy frowned and was about to pinch him back, when he heard what Nico had heard. The rumbling of a car in the barren night.

Both teens tensed, and Nico retracted his hand from Percy's mouth. Both heads pointed to the mouth of the alley, apprehensively staring at the sliver of road that was visible.

After a minute or two, a white car drove slowly by, gleaming in the moonlight. The car continued on; apparently the driver hadn't seen them. Both let out a breath of relief.

Nico closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. His collarbone pain only seemed to get worse, and the cold wind relentlessly whipped at his already freezing arms.

Suddenly, Nico felt someone's arm go around his shoulders, pulling him closer. The small teen tensed.

"You should've worn my ugly navy sweatshirt," Percy whispered into the darkness. And just like that, Nico relaxed again. Percy was pretty warm. It wasn't the fact that Percy had his arm around him that bothered Nico; the problem was actually the fact that it _didn't _bother him.

Nico ignored it and leaned into Percy's warm body. For someone so athletic, he was actually a surprisingly comfortable pillow. He leaned his head on Percy's shoulder, and Nico felt Percy's head lean on top of his.

"You tell anyone about this, you die," Nico threatened.

Percy laughed quietly. "Point taken."

The white car passed the alley again, causing Percy's grip to tighten on the smaller teen.

Nico snuggled closer.

* * *

I decided to be a little nice and have Nico find Percy fast(: But they're not really in the clear yet..After reading Mark of Athena, I was reminded how sassy Percy was, so I figured he would be pretty sassy to Hades(; I love all of your reviews; thanks so much!


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry if this took awhile! I started a new Nico story, so check it out! Thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading!

* * *

Nico was faintly aware of his arms stinging from the cold. But he felt warmth coming from his left, and he absently snuggled closer to it. The warm body's steady breathing began to lull him back to sleep. Nico sighed contentedly. His back ached from a hard wall he was leaning on, but he ignored it, instead focusing on the almost hypnotic rise and fall of his companion's chest. Nico heard cars whizzing by and people chatting casually in the distance. He frowned, his mind being further pulled away from sleep. Nico tried to remember where he was before he fell asleep. The wind blew, carrying a faint scent of the sea, reminding him of Percy. 'Percy!'

Nico sat up quickly and opened his eyes. They were in an alley, filled with trash cans and garbage. A few feet to his right, Nico saw a man in tattered clothing sleeping, wrapped up in some newspaper. He shuddered and shook Percy, who was sleeping next to him. Percy was still wearing the clothes he had worn to school the day he disappeared, and Nico could almost pretend the altercation with Hades was all a dream. His chest clenched with guilt when he thought about the hurt he brought upon Percy and his mom.

Percy grumbled something indecipherable and opened his bleary eyes. He looked around, confused. "Nico, what are we doing here?"

"Hades," Nico muttered. That simple word seemed to jog Percy's memory, and his face went grim.

"We shouldn't hang out around here," Nico said quietly, casting a wary glance at the sleeping homeless man. Percy nodded and stood up, offering Nico a hand. Nico didn't want to look weak, but his legs had fallen asleep, so he grabbed Percy's hand and allowed him to drag him up.

The pair left the alley, and Nico had to shield his eyes from the bright morning sunlight. Nico and Percy walked back in the direction they had come from the previous night. A few early morning shoppers gave them strange looks, but they ignored it. After a few minutes of silence, Percy asked, "Where are we?"

Nico shrugged, and immediately regretted it due to the pain that shot up his collarbone. He ignored it. "We must've run all the way to the next town over. It'll probably take us an hour to get back to your house."

Percy nodded, and the two continued without further conversation, a tense feeling present in the air.

•*•

Eventually, after they had left the buildings of the town and were surrounded by nothing but a few trees lining the road, the old shack came into view. Percy felt a shiver go down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold. Although he had tried to not let it show the previous night, being kidnapped by Hades had been horrifying. Percy looked over at Nico, but the shorter teen was decidedly staring straight foward, not even sparing the shack a glance. Nico's face was unreadable, but his fists were tightly clenched by his sides and he walked tensely.

Percy frowned. "Nico?"

"What?" Nico growled, not turning to look at him.

"When Hades grabbed me while I was walking... I was terrified. At the shack, I thought for sure he was gonna... but then you just walk out of the darkness and knock him out. That must've have taken so much courage and I... I just wanted to thank you."

Nico looked at his feet and didn't answer for a few minutes. "Don't thank me," he finally said bitterly. "I was the reason you got kidnapped in the first place. I'm really not heroic..."

Percy stared at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Nico, that was-"

"Don't," Nico cut him off. He sighed. "Let's just... let's just get back to your house. Your mom must be worried."

Percy wanted to protest again, but something about the way Nico wouldn't look at him caused him to stay silent.

•*•

The two reached Percy's house about an hour later. The morning was eerily quiet, except for a lone bird cawing in a nearby treetop. Percy glanced at Nico.

"You first," Nico said, gesturing to the door. Percy nodded and just about ran to the front door, throwing it open.

Sally was standing in the hallway and stared at her son in shock for a moment. "Percy?"

"Yep," he answered, smiling from ear to ear. Sally didn't seem like she could decide to either smile or cry, so she did both. The two Jacksons raced towards each other at the same moment, meeting in the middle with a bone crushing hug.

"Oh my gosh, Percy! Are you really here? Am I dreaming?"

Percy laughed giddily, hugging his mom tighter, if that was even possible. "I'm here!"

Sally let go of her son, framing his face in her hands instead. "They thought you were kidnapped! How did you get here?" she asked, smiling with tears of joy streaking her face.

"I was kidnapped, but Nico saved me," Percy replied, finally relaxing for the first time in almost twenty-four hours. Both Jacksons turned towards the front door to face Nico in unison. Nico was standing awkwardly near the open door, looking down with his hair blocking his face. He didn't appear to be listening to the conversation, focusing instead on the patterns of the wood floor. So naturally, he was pretty shocked when he was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug. The surprise on his was was priceless, and Percy had to stifle a laugh.

"Thank you. I don't know how you did it, and I honestly wouldn't mind if I never found out. All that matters is you brought my son home, and I'll never be able to repay you." Nico winced as if the words hurt him. Percy frowned, confused.

"You really don't need to thank me, Mrs. Jackson," Nico muttered.

Sally held him at arms length and ruffled his dark hair. "Don't be silly," she said, her eyes sparkling. "I'm just happy my boys are okay. Now c'mon, you two must be starving."

•*•

It had been two days since Percy and Nico had shown up at the Jackson house. The police had caught Hades while he was trying to leave the state. Now, Hades was facing countless years in jail. Nico had a warm home and bed to sleep in, and he was surrounded by people that cared about him.

Nico should be happy. And he tried to be, he really did, but it wasn't fucking working. It was getting really frustrating. Everything was perfect now; wasn't it? Nico had everything he wanted now; didn't he?

Nico decided to do something he hadn't done in years; he went to the cemetery. It was only a ten minute walk from Percy's house. The sun was beginning to go down, and the sky was streaked with orange and red. Nico walked through the streets with his head down, his hands shoved in his hoodie's pockets.

He reached the cemetery gates and shivered. He hadn't been there since the day of the funeral. Taking a deep breath, Nico walked through the gates and wandered around the headstones. The cemetery was empty, and Nico was thankful for that.

He knew exactly where her grave was, despite the day of her funeral being a blur of numbness. Nico didn't think, allowing his legs to guide him. He stopped in front a headstone, the inscription lit up by the sun's dying light. He stared at the name and fell to his knees, a single tear running down his cheek.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered brokenly. Suddenly, Nico wished the cemetery wasn't empty. Sitting there with only the sun's last rays and her headstone was too much; too real.

"Bianca di Angelo," a voice read over his shoulder, causing Nico to jump to his feet. The voice belonged to Percy Jackson.

"What are you doing here?"

"I saw you walking and wanted to tag along. She was your sister?" he asked softly. Nico was angry, but then sighed, all energy leaving him. He sat back down in the frosty grass. "Yeah."

Percy sat next to him. "How did she die?"

Nico wanted to get angry, he really did. He wanted to tell Percy that it was none of his business and that he should never have followed him. But, instead he found himself closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"It happened six years ago. I... we never knew our parents. We spent our time going from home to home for as long as I can remember. One day, Bianca decided that she wanted to go to this all girls school they had in town... it had dorms and everything... The Huntess Acadamy. I was so mad... I felt so abandoned... I didn't even say goodbye..." His voice cracked. Percy put his hand on his shoulder. Nico took a steadying breath and continued.

"Anyway, one day I was told she was kidnapped. I had no idea what to do, so I took a walk to clear my head. I was walking down a deserted road... and I came across this old shack by a willow... I heard her scream."

Realization dawned on Percy. "Oh, Nico..." he said softly.

"I rushed into the building and saw her tied up to a chair. She looked so scared... someone knocked me out from behind. When I woke up, the room was empty. I walked back to the orphanage and... they told me that they found her body a few hours ago..." Nico covered his face with his hands.

Percy put his arm around Nico. "That's horrible... but it wasn't your fault."

Nico glared at him, but it wasn't very threatening while his eyes were brimming with unshed tears. "How? If I had just called the police or not been such an idiot, she would still be alive," he spat.

"You were just a kid. She doesn't blame you."

Nico pushed off Percy's arm and jumped up, quickly walking out of the cemetery. He was walking down the sidewalk, but Percy grabbed his wrist.

Nico sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I understand if you don't want me living with you anymore. I haven't even lived with you for a week and you already had a near death experience..."

Percy tugged on Nico's wrist, forcing the shorter teen to face him. "That's ridiculous."

Nico sent him a half-hearted glare. "You don't need to take pity-"

But Percy silenced Nico's lips with his own.

* * *

I hope Nico's past wasn't confusing. Please check out my new story! It focuses on Nico too. Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appricaiated, this story isnt over quite yet(:


	15. Chapter 15

This is the last chapter of this story. Sorry that I didn't put a warning in the previous chapter or anything, but I didn't really know when I was going to end this. There'll be another author's note at the end of this chapter(: thanks!

* * *

The teacher's voice was almost torturous. Nico fought the rising urge to slam his head against his desk, although it would at least cause the teacher's monotonous lecturing to stop.

Just when Nico thought he would have to jump out the window to end his suffering, the teacher suddenly stopped. "I left the stove on!" He glanced around the room, going over his options. "Um, no one move!" The teacher ran out of the room. It was silent for a moment.

"No teacher!" one student yelled, causing an uproar. Nico rolled his eyes when he saw that Percy looked almost as excited as the others. The students were about to celebrate, when the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. The class groaned collectively.

"So close," someone near Nico muttered as everyone filed sadly out of the room. Soon, Percy and Nico were the only two in the room. Nico collected his things while Percy walked over to him. "An empty room all to ourselves?" he said suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.

Nico groaned. "Percy, I swear-"

Percy cut Nico off with a kiss. Nico pushed Percy away, blushing slightly.

"Percy, we're in school! What if someone saw us?" he admonished, however his glare held no anger.

Percy raised his hand to his mouth in feigned shock. "How terrible that would be!"

Nico rolled his eyes, walking towards the door. "You know this is gonna take awhile to get used to. And stop cutting me off with a kiss! You know that I-"

Percy bounded over and pressed his lips against Nico's while he was in mid-sentence again.

Nico narrowed his eyes. "You're insufferable!" he exclaimed, the smirk that played on his lips nullifying any seriousness.

Percy smiled as they walked into the near empty hallway. "You know you love me."

Nico's small smile grew. "How modest you are. And thanks, now I'm gonna be late to Chemistry."

Percy shrugged. "I know you think it was worth it."

"Again; you are not at all narcissistic." He turned and walked towards his Chemistry room.

Percy began to walk in the opposite direction, to his next class. "Do I sense sarcasm, di Angelo?"

"Wow, smart too!" Nico called over his shoulder, before he turned down another hallway and out of Percy's sight. He heard a faint, "Thanks!" being called to him. Nico shook his head. The bell rang, and Nico muttered a curse as he quickened his pace.

"He'll be the death of me," Nico said under his breath as he speed walked around a corner, knowing he was already on thin ice with his Chemistry teacher. His words, however, didn't hold an insult's malice, and Nico couldn't deny the warm feeling filling his chest.

•*•

Nico plopped down at the lunch table across from Leo. The curly haired teen stared at him. Nico narrowed his eyes. "What?" Leo kept staring at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Nico growled.

Leo didn't stop staring, but he answered. "If I look away, you'll disappear again, and not tell me anything, Casper." Nico snorted, but then he looked at Leo's disappointed face and felt guilty.

"Look Leo-" he started, but stopped when someone suddenly sat down next to him.

"Hey!" Percy greeted Leo. Nico glared at his boyfriend. Percy looked at his face and smiled. "Woah, that's a scathing glare. I'm sure a kitten would be terrified."

Leo laughed. "You know what Jackson, I like you. No offense, but why are you here?"

Percy gave Leo and incredulous look. "Nico didn't tell you? I mean, we live together, so that should explain enough." Leo gaped at the two, seemingly lost for words. After a few moments, Leo found his voice.

"You two live together? As in, Nico sleeps at your house everyday?"

"Yeah, well more specifically, he sleeps in my bed." Nico kicked Percy in the shin. The swim captain merely winked at him. Nico was about to murder someone. He glanced around, and thankfully no one else seemed to be listening.

"Leo, don't listen to him, he's an idiot," Nico growled. Percy grabbed Nico's hand under the table, causing most of Nico's anger to dissipate.

Leo looked beyond confused. "So, you don't sleep in his bed?"

Nico sighed. "It's a long story, but Percy's mom is my legal guardian since my foster father... uh, moved to Canada."

Percy gave him a weird look. "Moved to Canada?" Nico gave him an icy glare that clearly ordered Percy to drop the topic.

A wide grin spread across Leo's face. "So does that mean that you guys are brothers?" Nico and Percy shared a wide-eyed look. "N-no, we're definitely not brothers," Percy insisted quickly.

Leo smiled suggestively, looking back and forth between the two teens. "Ah, so you're dating?" he said casually. The two teens both went red and looked away from Leo. Leo's eyes widened in excitement. He jumped up from his seat and pointed at them. "I guessed right!" he shouted, causing a good amount of the cafeteria to stare at them.

Nico reached across the table and pulled Leo back into his seat. "Be quiet," he hissed. Leo's smile didn't falter, but his voice lowered a considerable amount.

"So, when's the wedding?"

Percy looked thoughtful. "Well, I was thinking about a summer wedding on the water, but Nico and I haven't really discussed it yet."

Nico wanted to strangle them both.

•*•

Nico and Percy walked side by side. In one hand, Percy held a bouquet of flowers. "Do you think the roses are nice?" Nico asked apprehensively.

Percy gave Nico's hand a reassuring squeeze. "The roses are beautiful." Nico nodded and snuggled further into his coat. The cold, crisp air stung and fresh snow crunched under their boots. Flakes began to fall again, making the deserted steet look serene.

Percy shivered. "Thanks for getting me this hat, or my ears may have already fallen off."

Nico managed a small smile. "Well, we couldn't have that." The duo walked through the gate, and Nico gripped Percy's hand tighter. They walked through the headstones before they came to the one they were looking for.

Percy handed Nico the flowers. Nico gently layed them in front of the the headstone and wiped away some of the snow that covered it. Percy hugged him, and the two sunk to the ground, despite the wet snow. Nico stared at the grave's inscription, thinking. He felt Percy kiss him on the forehead, and was immensely grateful to have such a good boyfriend. He snuggled further into Percy's strong arms.

"I bet she was beautiful," Percy said quietly.

Nico nodded. "She was." Snowflakes slowly fell onto the pair, but neither cared.

"I'll never let anyone hurt you again. Nico, I love you," Percy muttered, tightening his grip on the small teen.

Nico smiled sadly, his eyes watery. "I love you too, Percy... I wish you could have met her. She would've loved you."

Percy smiled. "I wish I could've met her, too." They sat in each other's arms in a companionable silence until the sun's last tendrils of light had retreated. Percy ran his fingers through Nico's unruly hair. "Do you want to get some of my mom's famous hot chocolate?" Nico nodded, and the two stood up, brushing off the snowflakes that had accumulated on their clothes. Nico walked up to the headstone. He kissed his fingers and pressed them to the cold stone.

"Merry Christmas, Bianca."

Percy threw his arm around Nico's narrow shoulders, and they walked back to the Jackson house, commenting on various houses' Christmas lights.

* * *

I hope you guys like that ending(: I was going to make something else happen, but the main conflict is already resolved, and I didn't want to drag the story out too much. I'm really gonna miss writing it though ;( thanks for everyone who stuck with me through this and read it, I love you guys! I'm going to start another similar Nico story, so keep an eye out(: Thanks so much for reading, you're all the best :D

_The End_


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